Going Steady: New Singles 1-6-22 – 1-12- 23 Reviewed
I Don’t Know What You See In Me – Belle & Sebastian – all too typical folk pop, catchy but slight… makes me think of Weezer in that sense – C+
Love Sick – Version 2 – Bob Dylan – a taster from the upcoming bootleg 1996-1997, in other words Time Out Of Mind, with a less thrilling take on the Dylan masterpiece, believe it or not it is slower than the original – B+
Nothing Left To Lose – Everything But The Girl – Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn, still a couple, release their first song in 24 years, a cool slice of trip hop that has a minimalism beyond Massive Attack: it is a beautiful and low key return – B
Hello Florence, How Are You? – Florence Arman – Arman is from Austria via the UK and if she is another member of the singer songwriter women on 22-23, she is a good one and this is an excellent self-portrait where her life on the road is nothing if not disrupting her friendships. A real beauty – Single Of The Week- A-
Memory Lane – Old Dominion – a pleasant enough slice of country Americana – B
Kelly Time – Owl City -The “Fireflies” guy hasn’t been up to much since 2009, mostly because he went out of fashion though this low key beauty is a gorgeous and simple number – B
Don’t Wait Too Long- Paul Carrack, The SWR Big Band – the soulful voice that was behind “Tempted” returns with another old school soul song that he underplays beautifully – B
Panopticom – Bright Side Mix – Peter Gabriel – the return of Gabriel and he sounds like no one else out there, he writes moving parts and fits dream strings to synth with a proggy undertow – C+
We Caa Done (feat. Drake) – Popcaan – Two years after the superior “Twist And Turn”, the dancehall EDM guy hooks up with Drake again for an alright attempt to recreate magic – B-
Hawaii – Public Image Ltd. – what would happen if the Polynesian vibe matched up well with Johnny? Well, among his most commercial songs ever and his contender for the English entry to this years Eurovision Song Contest. They should use it – A-
Let’s Talk About It – Queen Naija – soulful vocals from the Detroit native on a 90s style r&b track – B
Giddy Up! – Shania Twain – a stomping piece of bubblegum country with a towering hook as it wears its “9 to 5” influence – A-
Rumble – Skrillex, Fred Again.., Flowdan – Skrillex you know, Fred Again… is an English Avalanches, using found sounds, and Flowdan is a king of grime, and they rumble their way to the jungle on a great beat concerto – A-
Anti-Hero – Sondre Lerche – an electronic, as opposed to synthetic, sound that ups the groove a touch. Sondre is always a force but this take is hard to deal in – C-
I Can’t Give Everything Away – Spoon – David Bowie’s last song on his final album is an impressive take by Daniels, finding the ballad under the turmoil – B
New York ft. mazie – Steve Aoki, Regard – Steve at his most disco and mazie a great voice for this kinda thing – B-
Lay Low – Tiësto – typical drop the bass added to a real song – C+
