Although Vanbot hit the scene before them, comeback single Hold This Moment is bound to garner them comparisons to BBC Sound of 2012 nominees Niki And The Dove. High-vocal, Swedish sadpop is on the brink of becoming passé, but who can resist a bit of heartache sung over stirring, synth-laden beats?
Despite not currently belabelled, the duo (for they are two) stride on with preparing a 2nd album after their self-titled 2011 debut. However, with little to set them apart from the rest of the Scandi pack, like Tove Styrke, Rosannaand even Niki and her dove before them, Vanbot are unlikely to see online acclaim translate into sales. Hold This Moment is not a patch on their first single Make Me, Break Me, but it's still worth a few repeat plays before the next "new Robyn"pops up.
First of all, is it just me or are the two t's in the word Heartthrob annoying in their back-to-backness? No? Just me? Anyway, this, the 7th album by Canadian twins Tegan And Sara (their first in 4 years), has been branded a disappointing descent into the mainstream, but to my mind they have always been an indiepop act. Heartthrob, out now, simply tips the balance a little further towards the pop side.
With much of the production being producted by Greg Kurstin (one half of The Bird And The Bee and knob-twiddler -not a lesbian jibe- on hits by All Saints, Kylie &c.), Heartthrob packs more of a pop punch than the duo's previous outings (again, not a lesbian pun). Lead single Closer, their first point blank aim at the UK market, is the most poppy track on an album that otherwise deals with downbeat themes hidden beneath slick, uptempo tunes.
The music here is mostly straight-forward - I'm Not Your Hero is an adventure in insecurity, whilst I Couldn't Be Your Friend charts the prickly disintegration of a relationship. Now I'm All Messed Up tries in vain to be poignant, and I Was A Fool is like Bournville chocolate - smooth, yet plain. Generally their harmonies are taut, and the songs catchy, and it all builds up to the final track Shock To Your System, in which they stray into Niki And The Dove territory:
With its apocalyptic intro, driving beat and disillusioned vocals ("Who gave you reason?" is a haunting repetition), its certainly the most alternative and evocative track on the album. Elsewhere, the tone isn't worlds away from the bruised yet hopeful leanings of other Kurstin clients such as Kelly Clarkson or Pink. That's not necessarily a bad thing - it gave them their highest US album chart placing at #3 - but it gives me a sense that they should experiment with the darker sides of electropop next time round.
Likely to be new to approximately 0% of Sky Ferreira's fanbase, Everything Is Embarrassing is finally getting a release in the UK on an EP of the same name. Originally featuring on 2012's Ghost EP, this is a slice of of despondent, 80s disheartened pining not too dissimilar to Losing You by Solange, and is the kind of comedown song you listen to after a night out dancing with a broken heart.
It's her first release on these shores since the criminally overlooked One (#64 in Summer 2010), and although it shares a similarly imploring tone, Everything has a much more mature sound. With an ominous computerised male vocal a la Jessie Ware's If You're Never Gonna Move and subtle instrumentation, it may be too much of a grower to hit big - but it definitely teases great things from her long overdue debut album I'm Not Alright (release date TBC).
Fresh from getting trolled by a Tumblr hater who basically called her a rip-off of "DIY" act Grimes, and compared her unfavourably to fellow major-label act Sky Ferreira (curiously, all 3 of them appeared together on the cover of V Magazine back in the Autumn), Charli XCX releases her 6th (!) single this week.
You (Ha Ha Ha) samples a track by Gold Panda of the same name, and mixes obscenity-laden Kate Nash stroppiness with MIA-style beats. Her vocals shift seamlessly from sung-spoken verses to the triumphant, booming chorus, and is a return to catchy form after the dreary You're The One. This should mark another tiptoe towards the mainstream, in the massive game of Grandmother's Footsteps that is Charli's achingly slow rise to fame.
Ever since Eurythmics hit big in the early 80s, there has been a set formula for male/female electropop duos. The girl sings, and is the face of the band, whilst everyone wonders in this post-Bat For Lashes world if it's a moniker or indeed a band name. The guy does all the serious music stuff behind the scenes, and whilst she is the focus of interviews he comes across quiet and mysterious (read: personality bypass). The golden rule is that at least one of them has to dress like Mr Benn vs. Brick Lane and dye their hair unnatural colours.
New duo MS MR (aka Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow - try naming them after a few drinks) may or may not fit those categories. What's certain, however, is that they have already been making huge waves on the internet's metaphorical ocean. It's clear to hear why - MS MR's Hurricane is the kind of "dark pop" Natalia Kills/Verbalicious wishes she could make, and the supporting clip is David Lynch meets Lana Del Rey's Video Games:
Charting popular culture all the way from the bright side (a snippet of ABBA's Take A Chance On Me video) to the dark (a scene from 80s low-budget horror film Xtro), to the downright weird (at 1:10 there's a naked man holding an expensive breed of cat) - the subliminal images flash by so fast that stopping the video to catch up would ruin the song.
Caught somewhere between the melancholia of Desires, and Summer Camp with extra lashings of ginger depression, Hurricane chills you from the moment the intro drops. The haunting continues with their thunderstorm of a followup Bones, which, like Hurricane, is taken from the EP Candy Bar Creep Show:
Whether or not MS MR are Mr and Mrs (she's taken a feminist stand but refused to change her title by changing her original title to an ambiguous title - how hipster), remains to be seen. That said, the angst has got to come from somewhere, so if anything they're probably divorced.
Either way, their debut album Second Hand Rapture is due out in May.
The cynic inside of me wonders if Haim, the new hotly-tipped 3-piece sister act from L.A., really deserved to win the BBC Sound of 2013 competition. In the Autumn, adverts for their Don't Save Me video were popping up all over Youtube, and that sort of exposure doesn't come without a foot in the door and the backing of a major label.
Besides, being nominated for the Sound of... prize is somewhat of a poison chalice - Marina & The Diamonds anyone? - and Haim appeared to be well on their way to success already. That said, their debut single proper is the definition of an earworm, with a vibe so quintessentially Californian that it gives Fleetwood Mac a run for their money and leaves Katy Perry in the shade. The video (this decade's answer to Fragma's Toca's Miracle) completes the energetic atmosphere:
Notwithstanding the track's surprisingly poor performance (#32 UK, a low-charting first outing is seemingly par for the course for Sound of... selections), Haim have clearly got a knack for a good tune, and lead singer Danielle's Michael Jackson-esque vocal tics complete their Summery, familiar vibe. Just like their similarly infectious label-mates The Pierces, Polydor are bound to give their career more life than their tragic teen idol namesake, starting with their next single Falling:
She was the first member to jump out of the Sugababes car before it crashed, and with a reformation of the original line-up recently confirmed, it's time to welcome Siobhan Donaghy back to the room.
In 2001 record label London dropped the 'Babes but signed Shiv, and she debuted with the rock-influenced Revolution In Me two years later. First single Overrated, a dig at the original 3-piece's first hit Overload, made the top 20, then further singles bombed.
She returned in 2007 with a new Parlophone contract under her arm and an experimental flair up her sleeve, standing out amongst Take That's comeback and Rihanna's meteorological reign, and it's her second album, Ghosts, that earns her such a warm welcome back.
Don’t Give It Up, the lead single, opens the set with a galloping electronic riff that plummets into a swooning chorus, setting the scene for a Cocteau Twins-styled comeback.
The grand ballad So You Say followed, replete with firework sounds and hypnotic harmonies, a sister track perhaps to Patrick Wolf's Bluebells or Frou Frou's Hear Me Out.
Even Ghost's more straight-forward tracks have a kookier edge, such as the Jem-like breeze of Sometimes, with its non-lyrical chorus made up entirely of whoops and shrieks, and would have made an excellent 3rd cut.
Admittedly, there are a few throwaway tracks. There's A Place sounds like a One Touch demo whilst the strut and funk of 12-Bar Acid Blues (god only knows what that title means), doesn't quite lift the rhyme-by-numbers number off the ground.
The more peculiar moments make up for the less inspiring ones - Goldfish, (with hints of Kate Bush and Felt Mountain era Goldfrapp) highlights Siobhan's vocal power, as the album's producer James Sanger wraps her voice in a celestial breakdown and an almost trance-inducing climax.
Other songs are more low-key, yet still come with intriguing whispers and sweeping refrains aplenty. Styfling, a track that was left off the album, was later released as a remix by Square 1. Ignore the version with the rap segments and go for this:
The album closer is the title piece, and as a song in reverse, bonkers lines like ‘fuel full fat her glass of milk’ are transformed into a spooky chant, giving Roma Ryan's Loxianlanguage tracks on Enya's Amarantine album a run for their money.
Overall, despite being unsuccessful (it peaked at #92), the album is a healthy mix of radio friends and complex tunes. Whether or not the Sugababes 1.0 reunion will showcase Ms Donaghy's esoteric leanings remains to be seen. Until then, this is the go-to album for anyone who thinks that Nicola Roberts was the first girlbander to do Odd 'n' Peculiar solo.
It's surprising to note that after 10 years spent in Goldfrapp's shadow, Ladytron (arguably the edgier of the two electropop bands), were the first to release a decade-spanning retrospective. Sure enough, the West Country 2-piece are for once following the lead of their Liverpool-based counterparts, with hits package The Singles, a singles collection that curiously doesn't feature all of their singles. Behold! The official tracklist:
01 | Ooh La La
02 | Number 1
03 | Strict Machine
04 | Lovely Head
05 | Utopia (Genetically Enriched)
06 | A&E
07 | Happiness (Single Version)
08 | Train
09 | Ride A White Horse (Single Version)
10 | Rocket
11 | Believer
12 | Black Cherry
13 | Yellow Halo
14 | Melancholy Sky
Note the peculiar layout - the album immediately cashes in its chips with the openers being the band's two biggest hits (#4 and #9 UK respectively), whilst everything else seemingly trails in its wake. For a band that has taken in such a diverse array of sounds - from the Björk-esque tones of Felt Mountain through to the ABBA-like kitsch of Head First - this set just doesn't give their music justice.
Throwing in dreamier moments such as A&E and the remix version of Utopia in amongst the stomp and circumstance of Strict Machine and Ride A White Horse makes for a jarring, nonsensical mix. A chronological order or at the very least a trip through each mood in turn would have definitely hit the spot. Besides, the cover is a blatant rehash of the Supernature artwork:
And where, oh WHERE are Caravan Girl, Twist and Fly Me Away? Sure, they're not the duo's most memorable cuts, but they were all top 75 hits. With just 14 tracks on offer, there was plenty of room for those and even massive flops like Alive and Pilots. Instead we get the dreary new track Yellow Halo...
...and the marginally less dreary Melancholy Sky.
The collection, out on 6th Feb, marks the end of vocalist Alison Eponymous and instrumentalist Will Gregory's deal with Mute, and with this in mind The Singles feels like less of a golden era reminiscence and more like an assortment of hits thrown together to honour a contract. Boos all round!
Channelling the tight-knit harmonies of The Pierces and the wistfulness of a more mature Taylor Swift, up-and-coming folk sister act First Aid Kit are, shockingly, not from the American West but from Sweden. However, the video for their new single Emmylou (yes, Harris) does in fact hail from the deserts of California; a clip that ties in nicely with the country stylings of the track.
Johanna and Karla Söderberg (had I mentioned their names earlier the Scandi link would have been less scandalous) follow Katy Perry's lead with a reference to June and Johnny Cash, music's golden oldies du jour. Unlike The One That Got Away, the duo manage to balance out the twee with enough quirk to work - think Amy MacDonald's This Is Your Life crossed with yet another one of Bat For Lashes's dreams. As they trailer their second album The Lion's Roar, the two-piece asks: "just sing, little darling, sing with me". It shouldn't be long before the likes of Radio 2 will be taking them up on their offer.
Coming just months after their greatest hits collection, Ladytron's 5th album ushers in a wistful, downtempo era, and in a move last seen with Britney Spears's Radar single - Ace Of Hz, a new track made for Best Of 00-10 - has disappointingly crept onto this album's tracklist as well.
Admittedly, it fits in better here than amongst the gothic bombast found on the compilation, but added to the three instrumentals, one of which is an elevator-esque version of the above, there's a distinct air of filler on Gravity The Seducer.
Official first single and opener White Elephant sets the tone with its dreamlike quality, wafting through its 4-minute duration like a debutante at a party. It completes the transition from the rock-influenced tones of their last album, making it clear that this release is a gentle tap on the shoulder compared to the winning punch of Velocifero.
Second single Mirage picks up the pace a little, and Ambulances is a captivating mix of trip-hop and melancholia, not too far from Mono's Life In Mono.
The majority of tracks are sung by de facto frontwoman Helen Marnie, so it's a shame that Bulgarian singer Mira Aroyo (the group's unique selling point), has just a measly 2 tracks here. The set's midpoints are the brooding Moon Palace and Altitude Blues, and prove to be album highlights.
Overall, the tracks are noticeably shorter than on the band's previous efforts - a relief as oftentimes great tracks like Ghosts or Seventeen have suffered from repetition and overly-long instrumental segments. A sci-fi feel prevails - indeed many tracks sound tailor-made for a galactic video game. Even the album cover looks like a snapshot of a faraway planet.
Basically...
Ladytron's softer approach doesn't quite pay off. The poetic, obscure lyrics and Helen's cool, disaffected vocals keep proceedings familiar, although none of the tracks are as infectious as Blue Jeans or Destroy Everything You Touch. The ethereal harmonies and enigmatic themes are a bit like Enya in space, and whilst the cosmic riffs and twinkles work well, the intricate production somewhat drowns the vocals. A real change of pace would have been a happy, upbeat and accessible piece. As it stands, their 5th album in just over a decade harbours no surprises.
The accomplished, diverse sounds of Kimbra Johnson (for that is her full name) make it hard to believe she is only 21. Drawing comparisons to Nina Simone and Florence + The Machine, her music takes in polished, bouncy pop with Cameo Lover...
...to the Imogen Heap-esque kook of broody number Settle Down.
She's currently heading up a promo campaign in the US with the Settle Down EP, yet she diversifies further with the current (and third) Australasian single Good Intent; a slick film noir of a track with references to harlots and infidelity.
It's a jazzy piece with a spike that's missing from her mainstream soulful contemporary Caro Emerald's output - an edge that has helped propel Kimbra's debut album Vows into the top 5 in both Australia and in her Kiwi homeland.
With features on Miami Horror and Gotye tunes also under her belt, and American promotion well underway, it shouldn't be long until the musky tones of this musical chameleon come wafting onto European shores as well.
