The beats are gonna drop tonight

Vita Chambers' "Young Money" is one of those songs I may have a fling with and then quickly move on with little more than one or two glances back, but it's currently on medium rotation in my iPod. Vita is one of those acts who probably seems like she's been around longer than she has, via releasing songs like "Like Boom" to blogs for free download. Though "Like Boom" wasn't entirely unmemorable, "Young Money" is the first time I've been forced to think of her as anything other than "one of those random Internet promotion acts."



"Young Money" reminds me of Cobra Starship's "Good Girls Go Bad," though it's not as infectious as that deserved hit. Still, a shouty, chanty chorus that sounds designed to be sung to a stadium full of people helps ensure the song gets stuck in your head. Vita's cute, fresh-faced look and matching voice mean the song doesn't come across as the ostentatious celebration of rolling in cash its lyricists seem to have been (inadvisedly) aiming for--it ends up seeming more like some sort of empowerment anthem. Unless I'm forgetting something, we haven't really had a female-voiced answer to songs like "Good Girls Go Bad" and "Love Drunk" in the U.S.; Vita may be premature in singing about having money, but "Young Money" is enough fun to make me hope she manages to beat the odds and put at least a small dent in the U.S. charts.

Vita Chambers' proper debut single, "Young Money," can be purchased by Americans on Amazon or iTunes.

(The Beat Review has also recently featured this song.)

Beautiful of Mandy Moore Photo Gallery

Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore, she was born April 10, 1984 in
Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S. She is an American singer–songwriter, actress and fashion designer. She grew up in Florida. She is beautiful and popular artist in the world.

Find a new way of falling in love

In news of the weird, British band McFly have been working on music for their new album with Dallas Austin. It's not that I don't have a lot of respect for Dallas--he's made some of the decade's best songs, no question--but it's a match-up I never envisioned. Hopefully he can refine the boys' sound into something that connects with me more than Radio:ACTIVE generally did. If you've read this blog since its beginning, you'll know how much I love McFly and think they don't get anything near the respect they deserve, but I never fell for the majority of their last album. I'm not sure whether the melodies weren't there for me or if the production wasn't my style, but even just thinking about it now gives me that fingers-down-a-chalkboard feeling of on-edge agitation, which is never a reaction I thought I'd have or wanted to have to the band's music.

(Picture from Dallas Austin's blog.)

As incongruous a team as Dallas and McFly seem to make, maybe a bit of spit and polish from the man behind Pink's "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like A Pill" and Anastacia's "Left Outside Alone" is just what the group needs. It's no secret that I'd prefer them to return to the sound of "Transylvania," "Friday Night," and "We Are The Young" from Motion In The Ocean, but if that's not on the cards, I'll settle for music I love, plain and simple.

Let's take a moment for a Dallas Austin song which, although probably not sounding anything like his material with McFly, is perfect.



In other McFly news, the song I class as their best work since the best songs on Motion In The Ocean, the simple, beautiful ballad "Falling In Love," is apparently at #33 in radio play at Spain's biggest station. To steal from fans of a certain underrated Minogue, $ucce$$!

In even stranger news, they also wrote with Taio Cruz. I really like Taio, but once again, I can't say I ever saw this collaboration coming. Then again, it's so easy to think of Taio as "Break Your Heart," Tinchy Stryder-collaborating Taio that you forget he also wrote Will Young's "Your Game" (though even the former Taio is one that, as I said, I enjoy).

So put your feet up and enjoy the ride

...and the award for this year's Elin Lanto, the dance-pop princess who treats us to a fantastic single in the first few months of the year, one other single midway through the year, and then pushes back that promised album to who knows when after the singles don't explode, goes to...Gathania.

Gathania's "Get It Out" was probably the 2009 single that most consistently got spins throughout the year from me; for my money, it's the best September song since "Cry For You," even if September didn't release it (the men who make Petra's music are also the men behind Gathania, though), mainly thanks to that house piano hook. "Blame It On You," which impressed someone somewhere enough to originally be lined up for a UK release before being canceled via indefinite postponement, came with a video that proved Gathania could give some of the best popstar face I'd seen coming from a new act this year; girl knows how to flirt with a video camera. Despite being dance hits, though, neither of those singles had real crossover success, which has meant we've been waiting for an album that was finished by April for two-thirds of a year.



"Spinning," Gathania's third single in her native Sweden (and embedded above as a radio rip), marks another solid single from the Von der Burg pop factory, the people who have also given us all September's songs, Danny's "Tokyo," and Alcazar's "This Is The World We Live In" and "Physical." It's catchy, classy dance-pop with a quickfire chorus that, even if it doesn't quite seem to have as strong a vocal melody as "Blame It On You," is full of the little electronic hooks you'd expect from this composers--in other words, a song that all lovers of the VDB sound and Swedish pop in general will take to their hearts, that clubbers will happily dance to, and that will probably once again fail to take off in Sweden. I hope I'm proven wrong, and hope even more so that we finally get to hear that album, but just in case I'm not, let's all legally download the single when it comes out this December, OK?

I don't know the exact date of release, but Gathania's single should be released at some point this month, at which point you can purchase it here (digital).

Did I say too much?

I've realized in the time since I did my first list of newcomers I'm looking forward to hearing albums from in 2010 that I left out some acts who I'm just as excited about as those that made the first list. Plus, just to make this post a little longer--because that's what it really needed, more words--let's cover the couple of artists who I felt fell somewhere in between having a "proper" release before the end of 2009 and not. Consider this part two in an ongoing series--the Marinas, the Ellies, the Mini Vivas, and the more established artists will be in a future post (or several).

Le Kid
Remember Le Kid? Sure you do--the swooshy dance-pop of "Telephone"? The bouncey summery feel of "Mercy, Mercy"? The four person Swedish pop group has yet to actually release a proper single, but even if they hadn't, their pop credentials alone would have me drooling: they're backed by Sharon Vaughn and Anders Hansson, '80s producer and band member whose great work has continued right up to the this decade with Alcazar, BWO, Lena Philipsson, Rachel Stevens, and Agnes's third album. The group's own music-making members are no slouches either, with Märta Grauers, Felix Persson, and Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad having contributed songs for BWO, Agnes, Alcazar, Magnus Carlsson, and Velvet, amongst others. The last two members of the quintet are Helena and Johanna, singers equally capable of perk and attitude. Altogether, they seem to love bold, bright colors, which is a perfect reflection of what we've heard of their music so far.

Speaking of which, in regards to what Le Kid will sound like, well, we've only got a months-old description from Oswalds Popcorn about the sound of the demos--to paraphrase/translate, thorougly commercial "Kylie-pop" meets the type of indie-electro they do so well in Norway--and the aforementioned two songs to base our expectations off of. "Telephone," which mixes bits of Kylie vocals, an "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)" pre-chorus, and a refrain which feels like '80s pop-rock totally remade as modern dance-pop, and "Mercy Mercy," which has a beat which has drawn numerous comparisons to Girls Aloud's "Can't Speak French" but is much more sunny beachside fun (and much better) than that song, are both instantly appealing pop songs, enough so that when the group finally does come out of that studio they've been holed up in I'm expecting the pop joy to come raining down. The music seems to be there and the group comes across as nothing less than totally endearing in the video for "Mercy Mercy" and on their blog, even when explaining why they're not releasing music yet. A group of people who love pop music, are brilliant at making it, have a good image going, and seem like genuinely great, fun people--what more could you ask for?

Listen: "Telephone"

Find them on: MySpace
Buy: nothing yet. The album was supposed to be out this fall, but you get the feeling the group and their backers want to do this right.
Other people writing about them: Oswalds Popcorn, Don't Stop The Pop, Popjustice, Karinski

Sky Ferreira
Young American singer Sky, who was sneaking into clubs before she could legally drive, has sort of a mainstreamed hipster style, but it's the songwriters working with her that have caught pop fans' attention more than her image: Bloodshy & Avant (Britney Spears' "Toxic," Rachel Stevens' "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex," Miike Snow), Greg Kurstin (the Bird and the Bee, Lily Allen's It's Not Me, It's You, and, like Bloodshy & Avant, much amazingness), Lindy Robbins (Backstreet Boys' "Incomplete," Nick Lachey's "What's Left Of Me"), Paul Epworth (Florence + the Machine's "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)," the new songs on Annie's "Don't Stop"), Nicole Morier (Electrocute, Britney Spears's "Heaven On Earth" and "Rock Me In"), and Dallas Austin (Madonna's "Secret," Pink's "Just Like A Pill," Sugababes' "Push The Button," Gwen Stefani's "Cool"). On paper, that should mean there's no way we won't end up with some top-class pop songs.

The reality of what we've heard so far has been disappointing--far less electronic than I would have hoped for, much more fuzzy indie-pop-rock influenced, and even beyond that, nothing that screams "hit" (Lolita, written with Nicole Morier, has a certain cutesy catchiness and the Greg Kurstin-penned "Femme Fatale" isn't without appeal, but I guess when the buzz about Sky started I got my hopes up for some sort of fierce young pop starlet who'd have her own "Toxic" as well as gorgeous synth-decorated mid-tempo songs like "I Could Say" and "Cool")--but maybe her people are just holding back all the big guns for her proper debut? It could be that Sky has chosen to pursue a musical style that isn't one near and dear to my heart, but I can't give up the thought that she surely must have at least one fantastic song for us.

Listen: I'd rather post "Lolita" or "Femme Fatale," but her record label is being pretty restrictive even with videos streaming audio, so here's her covering Miike Snow's "Animal"

Find her on: MySpace
Buy: nothing yet, but she's signed to Parlophone and will be releasing her debut album next year
Other people writing about her: The Guardian's New Band of the Day, The Chemistry Is Dead, Arjan Writes

Visitor
Two guy (yes, two, but I don't have the tech skills to edit together a picture of the two of them) act Visitor--Australian in origin, British in base--mixes electronic and rock sounds--well, I can't put it any better than Popjustice, which has surely heard more songs by them at this point anyway: "a sort of pop-hungry, high drama missing link between The Killers and the Pet Shop Boys." Calling card "Los Feeling," produced by Diamond Cut, could easily fit in amongst, say, the output of all the amazing slightly indie electronic groups coming out of Australia, and I say that as the highest sort of compliment. They've also worked with fellow Australians Van She. Without a record deal yet, they're one of those groups we can't technically count on getting out a formal release in 2010, but with the interest, I'm hopeful.

Listen: "Los Feeling"

Find them on: MySpace
Buy: nothing yet, but you can freely and legally download the demo of "Los Feeling" from most of the sites listed below
Other people writing about them: Popjustice, XOLondon, Adem with an E, Arjan Writes, Discodust

Get my things together, gotta lose myself to you

The third album from Swedish Idol runner-up Sebastian, who lost to Agnes back in 2005, didn't make much of an impact this year. It yielded a few songs I liked, but nothing approached 2006's "Words And Violence," the lead single for his second album. Ultimately, it was "When The Night Comes Falling," his 2007 Melodifestival entry, that got the most attention from that album (though not that much, compared to his Idol friend Måns Zelmerlöw, who was the breakout act from that year's competition), but "Words And Violence" picked up where "Indifferent," his second single from his debut album (his first is better off forgotten), left off: kind of like a mini-the Ark a la "Calleth You, Cometh I" or "It Takes A Fool To Remain Sane." The simple, low budget video doesn't really do any justice to a song that strives towards grandeur; there's no sense of the drama, the outpouring of emotion that Sebastian is supposed to be conveying in the chorus, no sense of the way the shiny pop-rock song both pushes forward and soars. That's OK, though; in the end, it's enough that the song, based on nothing but a live performance, was able to hold me transfixed for months--enough to guarantee that, come what may, I'll probably always have at least some interest in Sebastian.

Jag vill om du vågar

With today's announcement of the final two semifinals for 2010's Melodifestival, we know all but one of the acts competing. Today's artists consolidate the trend towards newcomers, but there are a few big names as well as some middle-of-the-field names seeking to truly establish themselves. As usual, see my earlier article as well as the following sources: SVT, QX, Gylleneskor, Aftonbladet, Expressen. Photos are from the aforementioned SVT and Expressen. I used live ones from the press conference where available (Alcazar and Crucified Barbara didn't attend), so you can see what the acts look like now.

Semifinal 3: Göteborg (Feb. 20)

Doctor Doctor - Elin Lanto
Composers: Mirja Breitholtz, Tony Nilsson
Elin has appeared in Melodifestivalen before, back in 2007 with "Money," but this is her first post-dance-pop reinvention appearance. Tony has written all of her songs since then except the first one, "Speak 'n Spell," including "Discotheque" and "Love Made Me Stupid." Tony and girlfriend Mirja describe the song as being about a heart problem, so I think we can guess which particular pop trope the lyrics will be playing on. Over at Scandipop, Elin mentioned that her style now is more like that of "Love Made Me Stupid," with more guitars and a more pop-rock sound, though she follows up by saying that "Doctor Doctor" is a pop song and more direct and immediate (and less dark) than "Love Made Me Stupid." Earlier rumors said it was modern and uptempo.

Headlines - Alcazar
Composers: Peter Boström, Tony Nilsson
Amazing pop group Alcazar, fresh off of their success with "Stay The Night" in last year's contest, return to Melodifestivalen for the fourth time with a song from the team I love so much (behind Ola's best pop songs, amongst others). That said, I'm quite nervous; it's not a song that was definitely going to go to them or meant for them, and for some reason that makes me a little apprehensive about quality (though that's not so much that other acts rejected it--September said no without even hearing the song, for example). Still, when Tony and Peter get together (and even when they're apart), they can work magic. They describe the song as a outrageous, energetic uptempo song which is about scandal.

Heaven Or Hell - Crucified Barbara
Composers: Håkan Larsson, Björn Lönnroos, Jörgen Svensson
I'd never heard of this all-girl rock group before, but previewing their only album so far shows them to have a hard rock sound. As I mentioned earlier, the only songs I definitely know the songwriters have been involved with in the past were for Shebang, but sadly it doesn't sound like we'll be getting anything similar to that group's bouncy pop-rock: the songwriters say "Heaven Or Hell" is a hard rock ballad about escaping from unhappy love with a strong hit-friendly hook.

Hur kan jag tro på kärlek - Erik Linder
Composers: Kenneth Gärdestad (text), Niclas Lundin, Tony Malm (musik)
Former televised singing contest (the Swedish version of ...'s Got Talent) entrant Erik is one album into his career, and it sounds like the slow tempo of that album is in keeping with his Melodifestival song: a Swedish pop song with sadness and hope in the '70s pop style which can't fail to leave one moved, according to its writers. Earlier reports said it was in the style of Ted Gärdestad's '70s hits and if that's true, the song and the singer seem like a good match.

Kom (Run) - Timoteij
Composers: Niclas Arn, Gustav Eurén, Karl Eurén
Another four person group I hadn't heard of, Timoteij will be singing a song by writers who sometimes venture into full-on pop or dance-pop (Verona's "La Musica," Alcazar's "Burning," Nina & Kim's "En gang for alla"...though they can just as easily veer off into material I don't care for) but who in this case have created a song they describe as a modern pop song with a folk touch. Earlier reports did indicate that the song is uptempo, contrary to what their photo might lead one to expect, and the group confirmed that to QX, calling it hooky and uptempo.

Tonight - Johannes Bah Kuhnke
Composers: Sharon Vaughn, Anders Hansson
Likewise, I'd never heard of Johannes Bah Kuhnke (who has apparently done a good bit of theater work), though the songwriters are of course very familiar; given that "Tonight" is a ballad, maybe the most recent and relevant work of theirs is Agnes's "Big Blue Wall," though perhaps even that isn't exactly a spot-on reference point--they describe "Tonight" as a big, emotional rock ballad with a groove, soul, grime, and power.

Yeba - Getty
Composers: Getty Domein (text), Tuomas (Tiny) Pyhäjärvi (musik)
Zaire-born but Sweden-raised Getty will be performing in Lingala which he and his co-writer describe as different and exotic Congo-inspired club musisc.

You're Out Of My Life - Darin
Composers: Henrik Janson, Tony Nilsson
Former Idol contestant and brilliant popstar Darin (who, much as I love him, has been unable to equal the commercial success of his second album and its single "Step Up" with his third or fourth, though his recent cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" has been his most successful release in the past few years) makes his first appearance in the contest with a song written by the men behind Velvet's "The Queen" (and in Tony's case a bunch of other songs I love), who claim this time to have written an unforgettable huge emotional song about loss. Earlier reports indicated the song was mid-tempo (though in my head I keep thinking that means a ballad with some big percussion beat beneath it or something). There's no question I'd prefer Darin to be singing an uptempo song, which is where I think his strength lies, but he does have a fantastic pop voice which can elevate just about any song and he has made some great ballads in the past.

Semifinal 4: Malmö (Feb. 27)

Hollow - Peter Jöback
Composers: Anders Hansson, Fredrik Kempe
Massively popular Peter will be singing a ballad by the fantastic songwriters Anders Hansson (BWO, Agnes, Alcazar, Lena Philipsson--the list could go on and on, but for non-Swede-pop addicts, he also co-wrote Rachel Stevens' "Queen") and Fredrik Kempe (the winning song the past two years). They describe "Hollow" as a grandiose song written in the despair of a lonely heart, which is pretty much what you'd expect a Peter Jöback Melodifestival entry to sound like, while Peter compares it to "All By Myself" in feeling while noting that Anders Hansson's production keeps it modern. Earlier reports indicated it was a ballad (as if you needed confirmation of that given its official description). After never being won over by the popular ballad entries of the past two years (Sanna Nielsen's "Empty Room," which still doesn't move me at all, and Caroline af Ugglas's "Snälla Snälla," which I can understand the appeal of even if I don't feel it myself), could Peter's "Hollow" finally mark the top-contending ballad I actually get? Let's hope these songwriters have something in store that is top-drawer quality.

Human Frontier - NEO
Composers: Anneli Axelsson, Tobias Jonsson
Yay! I'm pretty happy for Neo, who isn't signed to one of the bigger labels in Sweden and whose debut album from 2008 was very underappreciated. He's one of those artists who, in terms of music, I think has the most to benefit from the contest; his songs are very schlager/pop-fan friendly, but lacking previous national prominence or a bigger label, he was unlikely to get the exposure to establish himself without Melodifestivalen. Hopefully he's a good live performer (something which is up in the air--has anyone actually seen him sing live?) and "Human Frontier" is as good as the BWO-esque "Flower Power Supergirl" or the '80s pop "Higher." I'm still not counting on (or really expecting ) him progressing out of his semifinal, but this should introduce him to a much bigger audience. All indications are it's at least in keeping with those styles: the songwriters (behind his earlier work, too, I belive) say "Human Frontier" is life-affirming, melodious, dancey uptempo pop which gives you a burst of energy.

Idiot - Noll Disciplin
Composers: Per Aldeheim, Niklas Jarl
The lead singer of this band was also the singer in SK8, the group which won Lilla Melodifestivalen 2007 (which doesn't actually feed into Junior Eurovision). SVT's site doesn't have the official description of the song up yet, but I think we can expect rock given the songwriters and group. Earlier reports said the song is uptempo.


Jag vill om du vågar - Pernilla Wahlgren
Composers: Pontus Assarsson, Daniel Barkman (text), Jörgen Ringqvist (text), Jörgen Ringqvist (musik)
There's big positive buzz around this schlager song from Pernilla (who I love), best known in a Melodifestival context for the '80s entry "Picadilly Circus" but who has made some other great pop songs, both in those years and more recent ones. When Pontus goes schlager, he does it well--see his earlier Melodifestival entries like Fame's "Vindarna vänder oss" and Fame's "The One That You Need." The songwriters describe their song as classic happy uptempo schlager in Swedish about love. Pernilla told Gylleneskor (which refers to "Jag vill om du vågar" as the year's only schlager entry) the song is a little rockier than her earlier entries, but she also said to Aftonbladet that it's an old-school schlager song. Despite that, from the buzz, this is definitely one of my most-anticipated entries; for those of you who love schlager, it should be one of yours as well. Pernilla has somewhat of a media presence in Sweden still, but as far as actually selling music, her entry this year could be marked as an attempt at a comeback.

Magisk stjärna - Py Bäckman
Composers: Py Bäckman (text), Py Bäckman, Micke Wennborn (musik)
The writer of the winning 1988 Melodifestival entry, Tommy Körberg's "Stad i ljus," and co-writer of "Gabriellas sång" enters as both co-writer and artist this time (though she's apparently released numerous albums of her own over the years, too). She and Micke describe "Magisk stjärna" as a cool song with sharp lyrics and an instantly memorable chorus.

Stop - Sibel
Composers: Mikaela Stenström, Dimitri Stassos
The former Idol contestant who made it to the Melodifestival finals in 2008 with "That Is Where I'll Go" returns with a song whose songwriters (including Dimitri, who often writes Greek-flavored songs but doesn't seem to have done so here) describe as a fast, cool pop song with a lot of energy.

This Is My Life - Anna Bergendahl
Composers: Kristian Lagerström (text), Bobby Ljunggren (musik)
Anna, from the 2008 season of Idol, makes her commercial music debut with a song by Melodifestival stalwart Bobby Ljunggren, who along with Kristian describes "This Is My Life" as an existential declaration of independence garbed in an organic midtempo style. Talking to Gylleneskor, Anna said "This Is My Life" is a quiet, hopeful, warm song which becomes bigger and bigger as it goes along and isn't really a pure ballad. She also compared it to her early performances on Idol, before the themed weeks started.

Thursdays - Lovestoned
Composers: Sharon Vaughn (text), Peter Boström, Thomas G:son (musik)
The mainly Swedish (though only launched in Germany so far) two boy two girl reggae-pop group is working with some names I like on this song, but their folky reggae-pop has yet to be as poppy as I'd like (i.e., it's never gone into Ace of Base territory, which is where I like my reggae-pop to sit). "Thursdays" is described by its songwriters as melancholy but infectious reggae in their usual style about making the best of a weekday.

Also, it was announced a few days ago that the song "Come and Get Me Now" from semifinal two, the web joker, will be performed by the dansband Highlights, competing on Dansbandskampen at the moment (thanks Len!). There's still one joker spot left to announce. Aftonbladed gossiped earlier that it was between Lena Philipsson (who SVT really wanted but who was having a lot of trouble finding a song she liked), Pernilla Andersson, and Linda Sundblad and now Expressen says it's between Linda, Lena, and Jenny Berggen, who has just left Ace of Base..."between them" in that songs are being written especiallly for them in hopes of wooing them to do the contest. Any of those last set would make me VERY happy. I've been desperate for a proper new album for Lena for what seems like much longer than it's actually been (no, that '60s-sounding Lena + Orup album doesn't count) and she is obviously AMAZING (adding her to this year's lineup would make it feel complete, really make it a big deal in terms of both prestige names and likely pop fantasticness), I'm a big fan of Linda and would like to see this new album of her find success (and apparently radio doesn't want to play her new material, so Melodifestivalen might be her best shot), and how can you not be intrigued by what a former Ace of Base member would sound like, even if she doesn't have her former songwriters behind her?

As for who out of these names I'm excited about, well, it's a bit difficult to judge when it comes to all the newcomers--Timoteij could be good, as could Anna, maybe. I'm excited to hear the songs from Darin, Alcazar, Pernilla, Peter Jöback, Elin, and Neo, albeit with some of the aforementioned concerns. I hope I like Sibel's new song and those from some songwriters I really like. Erik's song could be a really good match of singer and song, as I said above. Basically, there are a lot of sparks of interest going up from me, just not always a lot to fuel those sparks in a sustainable way yet; luckily, there are that batch of semi-established artists I just mentioned who I'm hoping have it amongst themselves to bring some great pop and at least a couple of classics.

Åh, Kristina, guldet blev till sand

Aftonbladet reported today that Peter Jöback will be the next joker in 2010's Melodifestival, singing a Fredrik Kempe-penned ballad which their source says is of winning class. While there's not official confirmation of this fact yet, if it's true it significantly changes the picture for next year's contest. Peter is something of an institution in Sweden. As Markus Larsson of Aftonbladet rightly points out, Darin may be popular amongst young girls, but Peter is popular amonst far more demographics; songs unheard, he'll be the one to beat in March.

Peter has a voice which often veers towards theatrical, and he's done his share of theater and theatrical-sounding songs, especially piano- and string-featuring ballads. In fact, his biggest hit is the beautiful "Guldet blev till sand," from a musical written by the two "B"s of ABBA.



His latest album is a collection of covers, but the lead single for the album before that, "Stockholm I Natt," is probably as fair a representation of his sound as any (though it's not my absolute favorite of his songs).



Like any artist whose career is going on two decades of work, of course, he's accumulated a flirtation with various styles on his resumé, from Disney ballads to the more pure pop of his 2000 album Only When I Breathe to the sort of glam rock power ballad of his duet with the band Laakso; even to a previous Melodifestival entry, albeit back in 1990 before he was really an established artist.

I'm tentatively in favor of this development. I don't love everything Peter does, but there's no denying he can make a heartwrending song when he's matched up with the right material. The best we can do is hope that he has been in this case. Fredrik has composed some great ballads in his time, even if I tend to prefer his more uptempo songs. My first thought that I'd love Peter to sing a song like Patrick Isaksson's "Faller Du Så Faller Jag," a (non-Kempe) Melodifestival entry from 2006, but the song will probably be far more "polished orchestral" than that if I'm being honest with myself. Still, the idea of Peter singing one of the better ballads from Fredrik's first two solo album is pretty enticing.

Avec ma meilleure amie on dit Jack Kerouac, Bridget Jones

I was sitting here--well, more accurately, lying in bed, unable to sleep, and the thought popped into my head: has anyone in France--or for that matter anywhere--produced a song as weightlessly gorgeous as the one below this year?

There are different types of cosmic pop--some are cool and a bit aloof, like Annie's "Songs Remind Me Of You," and others, like Nolwenn Leroy's 2006 single "Nolwenn Ohwo!" are joyously, vibrantly, triumphantly warm and alive. Both types can be fantastic, but we don't hear nearly enough songs of the latter kind.

Nolwenn's new, much more folky third album, Le Cheshire cat & moi, featuring collaboration with Teitur, hit digital retailers this week and I've yet to listen to more than clips, but sadly, I don't know that it contains a song I'll love as much as this one. I could have sworn I read months, maybe a year ago (before the tracklisting was set, at any rate) that Nolwenn had done a song with Guy Sigsworth, but I can't seem to find confirmation of that anywhere online. Whether I imagined that or not, though, I'd love to hear the fruit of such a collaboration.

See also: Nolwenn covering "Running Up That Hill" live

You left me on my own at 600 feet

Sometimes you just fall for simple little pop songs far more than you'd expect to.



"Black Box," which must be the best winner's single from Idol since Aleksander With's "A Little Too Perfect," is written by Jonas Jeberg, Lucas Secon, Wayne Hector, and Mich Hanson, the same four men who wrote the Pussycat Dolls' "I Hate This Part." You can hear that, I think; the beat is no carbon copy, but it sounds like it was created using the same technique.

The video is nothing more than a way to listen to the song, but even outside of the fact that it's refreshing to hear an Idol winner's victory single be something other than a poor example of a giant ballad, something actually approaching chart relevance, "Black Box" is a lovely little pop song. There's no particular bite or edge to it, but I've yet to feel exhaustion with this template, and Stan's semi-but-not-too soulful male voice brings at least a little change from the female pop singers we've heard singing this song's cousins so far.

Stan Walker's debut album, which is mainly a bunch of covers from Idol but does contain "Black Box," can be preordered here (physical).

I did it for love

I wasn't sure there was much point to going over the recently announced artists for half of 2010's Melodifestival songs considering there were few surprises in terms of known names--in fact, I'm still not sure there is--but hey, it's tradition, right? The songs for the first two semifinals, complete with artists, the songwriters' descriptions of the songs, and a few of my thoughts (see also my earlier post for more complete thoughts about the songwriters themselves and notes on some of the artists; also, beyond being grouped by semifinal, the songs aren't in running order) are below, along with notes from other websites. As always, I have absolutely no inside connections, so any comments about actual quality--not just regurgitated press release stuff--is from other sites, which I try to always cite. See my sources before, SVT's official site (source of most of these photos), QX, Aftonbladet, Gylleneskor, and Expressen (1, 2). For general Melodifestival coverage, I also highly recommend Schlagerprofilerna, Gylleneskor, and Scandipop; hopefully Tobbe will be back in time for the contest.

Semifinal 1 (February 6, 2010):

A Place To Stay
Artist: Jenny Silver
Composers: Torben Hedlund

A singer in '90s group Candela who Anders Nundstedt of Expressen describes as the "dansband chick gone punkrocker," Jenny Silver (née Ohlund) is performing a song described by its creator as dark, minimalistic, melancholy and hopeful pop song suitable for clubs which makes people feel beautiful and sexy. That's not at all the style of music I would have expected her to be singing, but I guess that peak makes me slightly more interested in a song I might otherwise have had no real thoughts about. It's still not high on my excitement list, though.

I Did It For Love
Artist: Jessica Andersson
Composers: Kristian Wejshag (text), Lars "Dille" Diedricson (musik)
Jessica, a former member of the previously Melodifestival-winning duo Fame, appears in the contest as a solo singer for the third time, but I can't get nearly as excited about this new entry, despite some positive buzz around it. The songwriters say "I Did It For Love" is an emotionally-charged beautiful ballad about the pain and dejectedness of a love story. In a QX interview, Jessica says "I Did It For Love" is a big, beautiful ballad in all its simplicity.

Keep On Walking
Artist: Salem Al Fakir
Composers: Salem Al Fakir
This semifinal's joker, piano man Salem Al Fakir is, for lack of a better phrase, a credible singer-songwriter, but don't let that scare you off entirely; he's also the author and singer of the transporting song "It's Only You (Part II)," which I listed as one of my favorite singles of 2008 and still thrill to whenever I hear on television via a car ad. Granted, that song was a reworking of an original version which I didn't love quite as much, but I'm still thrilled for Laura of EuropeCrazy that the artist she loves so much will be in the contest (plus I dare you to find another critically praised album from this year that contains a joyful '70s-styled song warning about the dangers of picking up an STD if you engage in free love--Salem may make serious ballads, but he's definitely got a sense of humor, too). Salem says "Keep On Walking" is in his usual style and is a peppy song about picking oneself up and still going on even after one has fallen.

Road Salt
Artist: Pain Of Salvation
Composers: Daniel Gildenlöw
Rock band Pain of Salvation will be performing this self-written song, which they call a delicate track, a rock ballad which isn't hard rock but rather more on the quiet side, that refuses to give up about a trip to person's dark corner where we don't want to be seen but are (yeah, the little Swedish I had while abroad is fading fast, so I'd welcome help on clarifying that). As you'd expect, my default reaction to this entry is skepticism--rock that relishes in the darker, creepier corners of the music scene (which is how I'd characterize the bits I've heard of this group's music) isn't really where I spend my personal time (when it comes to rock, I tend to like it big, full of hooks, mainstream-friendly, and decidedly un-creepy), so I can't say this is an entry that my personal taste is making me look forward to.

Singel
Artist: Frispråkarn
Composers: Håkan Bäckström (text), Hamed K-One Pirouzpanah (musik)
Rapper Frispråkarn will be performing a song which he and his cowriter (who also worked on Ola's "Sky's The Limit" amidst a host of more R&B tracks) say is a mix of hip-hop and R&B that has a crazy dancey beat with vivid lyrics.

The Saviour
Artist: Anders Ekborg
Composers: Henrik Janson, Tony Nilsson
"The Saviour" replaces disqualified song "Åt helvete för sent." Theater star Anders Ekborg (who is releasing an album this spring) is one of many Melodifestival debutants this year, and he's performing a song by by the team who wrote Ola's 2008 entry "Love In Stereo." Anders' song, though, is described by its writers as a cross between Freddie Mercury and Pavarotti which is about saving the world with music, and Anders says it's grand and difficult to sing. Usually I'm kind of skeptical about opera in pop songs ("La Voix" was an exception), but this sounds interesting, if nothing else, and it has songwriters I like attached to it.

Unstoppable
Artist: Ola
Composers: Alexander Kronlund, Hanif Sabzevari, Dimitri Stassos, Ola Svensson
All these Ola connections...and now we've finally got the real thing! I can't overstate how excited I am about Alexander Kronlund writing a song for Ola--he knows his way around pop, as I went over in my earlier MF post. The official Melodifestival site isn't listing any of the usual details about this entry, so I'll just restate what I said before: a modern uptempo pop song which has a positive buzz around it suggesting it's of the class of "Natalie," Ola's breakout hit...a real radio hit. Ola told QX that "Unstoppable" shows off his new harder sound and is in a different style from what he's done previously. One of my most anticipated songs of the contest, for sure.

You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot
Artist: Linda Pritchard
Composers: Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren
I LOVE this team of songwriters. Not 100% quality, but darn close, and when they do get it right, they get it right BIG TIME (Linda Bengzting's "Alla flickor" and "Hur svårt kan det va?", Jessica Andersson's "Kalla nätter," Alcazar's "Alcastar," Jessica Folcker's "Om natten," etc.). Linda, who competed in the early stages of Idol, has only given us one taste of her solo work so far, a cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car," but I doubt it's worth more than a mention since it's not by these writers, who say their song is uptempo pop with a Latin style. I wish they'd left off the "Latin style" part--just a fantastic pop or schlager-pop or disco-pop song is what I'd like from them--but this is still one of the entries I'm excited to hear. Linda adds in an interview with QX that "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" is a swinging party song which you can't sit still for

Semifinal 2 (February 13, 2010):

Come And Get Me Now
Artist: not yet clear
Composers: Mia Terngård (text & musik), Stefan Lebert (musik)
The webjoker winner, so we've already heard it, at least in an early form. Suffice to say it would not have been my choice.

Hippare Hoppare
Artist: Andra generationen & Dogge
Composers: Vlatko Ancevski, Vlatko Gicarevski, Douglas Leon, Mats Nilsson, Teddy Paunkoski, Otis Sandsjö, Stevan Tomulevski
Balkan style mixed with hip hop--yup, that's what you'd expect from Balkan-flavored band Andra generationen and rapper Dogge. They also refer to the song as being Balkan reggaeton. Oh joy, oh rapture.

Innan alla ljusen brunnit ut
Artist: Anna-Maria Espinosa
Composers: Danne Attlerud (text), Stefan Woody (musik)
Anna-Maria's own sound is a sort of indie-pop-rock. Credible. Her entry--with music composed by someone whose name I only know from MissMatch's "Drop Dead"--is said to convey a frank feeling of loss.

Manboy
Artist: Eric Saade
Composers: Peter Boström (musik), Fredrik Kempe (text & musik)
Eric, formerly a member of boy band What's Up who has done Disney work and is dating Molly Sandén, will be singing this uptempo song which its writers--of Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero" amongst many others--say has an exciting dynamic. In an interview with QX, Eric says "Manboy" has some mysterious, slightly dangerous-feeling elements--hard or strong, not wimpy. Rumor has it this could be a "Cara Mia"-level song. No surprise--it's one I'm looking forward to (and the idea of Fredrik/Peter pop but with a slightly harder sound is just what I wanted).

Incidentally, in that same interview with QX, Eric says he's releasing a single called "Sleepless" which is also by Fredrik and Peter, which is thrilling to me--I didn't think we'd get a taste of his music until February or March, but we must be hearing "Sleepless" before that. Unsurprisingly, Eric's official site says he's planning to release an album in 2010.

Manipulated
Artist: Hanna Lindblad
Composers: Sarah Lundbäck, Hayden Bell, Erik Lewander, Iggy Strange-Dahl
Hannah, who's done theater work and backing vocals, will be singing a song its writers describe as a sexy dance/club song with a lot of R&B influence, while Hanna tells QX it's a cool suggestive club song. I might not otherwise be excited, but that description is enough for me.

Underbart
Artist: Kalle Moraeus & Orsa spelmän
Composers: Lina Eriksson (text), Johan Moraeus (musik)
They (Kalle and his string group) have apparently played as part of the Benny Andersson Orchestra. No description of the song on SVT yet.

We Can Work It Out
Artist: Andreas Johnsson
Composers: Andreas Johnson (text), Bobby Ljunggren (musik), Marcos Ubeda (musik)
Andreas Johnson, known internationally for "Glorious," makes yet another return to Melodifestivalen (his fourth time in five years, I think). Once again, no description of the song on SVT yet, but Andreas told QX that it's a piano ballad, which is a change from his earlier entries, a big beautiful epic song closer to "Glorious" than his other Melodifestival entries.

In other Melodifestival news, Expressen gossips that, in regards to the songs not officially linked to singers yet, folk act Timotej (not Erika Selin) will sing "Run," Linda Bengtzing was offered Tony Nilsson song "Headlines" but it's not clear if she's accepted yet, and guesses at/reports some other matches.

Cameron Diaz Photo Galleries

Cameron Diaz Photo Galleries

Need a second to breathe

If I'm remembering what I read correctly and if what I read was correct in the first place, "Whataya Want From Me," a song on Adam Lambert's upcoming album For Your Entertainment that was written by Max Martin, Shellback, and Pink, was originally scheduled to appear on Pink's Funhouse album--well, that much we know for sure. The rumor I read, though, was that the song was written about a relationship Pink had when she and her husband Carey Hart were separated and headed for a divorce. When she began to reconcile with Carey, Pink removed the song, then called "What Do You Want From Me," from the album at the last minute.

I'm not sure that the timeline for this story quite works out--Funhouse came out in October 2008 and I don't know of any Pink-Carey reunion stories that broke before January 2009 (though if you were trying to fix a rocky relationship, you certainly wouldn't be publicizing it early on in the process)--but I could imagine it being the case given the narrative of "Whataya Want From Me." As emotional context, that story works, but whether the song was written about another man, Carey, or from a theoretical perspective based on what Max thought would make for a good song doesn't matter in the end. Whatever the inspiration, "Whataya Want From Me" succeeds in being one of the most heart-tugging radio-ready pop songs I've heard this year, better than all the Max collaborations that did make it onto Funhouse besides "It's All Your Fault" (which "Whataya Want From Me" bears a bit of a resemblance to).

Is it wrong to call the sound of someone going through emotional turmoil musically delicious? That's what this song is for me, both lyrically and instrumentally a mix of hope and sadness that makes for emotional complication I can't get enough of. The sparse verses, with their crestfallen guitar riff (yes, a guitar riff can be crestfallen), set the mood, but it's in the gorgeous gently pop-rock chorus that the song really shines, with a melody that shows Max at his songwriting best. The subject matter--essentially "I'm really messed up right now, but please don't let that scare you off because I'm trying and I think we can make this work if you're willing to take it slow"--isn't incredibly uncommon, but thanks to some strong songwriting from all parties involved, "Whataya Want From Me" ends up being compelling, making "what do you want from me?" both a nervous query as to whether the narrator is setting him/herself up to get hurt again and a plea to understand what it will take to get his/her partner to stay. It's all the messed-up emotions of trying to form a relationship after a tough breakup balled into one beautiful little midtempo package.

Since "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like A Pill" (both co-written and produced by Dallas Austin), Pink has shown herself to perhaps be the American singer best capable of portraying the darker, complicated side of the emotional spectrum in perfect for radio but also emotionally affecting midtempo songs. That's in large part due to that just-raspy-enough voice of hers, but time has shown her to either be a great songwriter in her own right or a seriously fantastic muse for great songwriters. "Whataya Want From Me" would have been an excellent addition to the Pink canon, but Adam does it justice, might even make it better with a voice that tends to pierce through the musical background instead of get fuzzy around the edges to meld in with it. Maybe it's just the novelty of hearing his voice on one of these songs, but for me it feels as if he manages to get away with the repetitive nature of the second half of the chorus a little better than Pink might have. Pure speculation, though.

Anyway, the point: "Whataya Want From Me" is one of those songs that had me singing along at first listen and also never fails to make me feel something, even if what I'm feeling isn't perfectly clear cut. There's a certain kind of glory that can come from a pop song with a bit of pace to it and this pop-friendly a chorus forcing you to muck about in those kind of emotions, even if it is a simple kind of complexity, that comes when a song resonates musically and emotionally and those resonances enhance each other...and "Whataya Want From Me" has it.

Preorder Adam Lambert's debut album, For Your Entertainment, here (physical).


I couldn't properly work it into the post, but I needed to mention that the first verse can seem a little weak lyrically but the second verse makes up for it. "It's me...I'm a freak" may not translate to amazing on the screen, but sung, it never fails to get me.