(Preface: You Don't Know Pop wrote about this song a while ago, but spotlighted a remix, so I still felt this post was needed/acceptable.)It's easy to be tired of the '60s revival by now, but please don't go running away when I say that Jennifer Brown's new single, "Mr Running Man," is '60s-sounding: it has a lighter touch--instrumentally and vocally if not totally lyrically, though even the words are more cheeky than depressed or ominous--to it than most of the Ronson-inspired music we've heard in the past few years. Most of those songs have never had the energetic bounce and spring in their step that, say, the Pipettes' '60s-inspired songs did, even when they were mid- to up-tempo, and without that, for me, the possibility of fun seemed to plummet.
As her follow-up to her decidedly more serious Melodifestival entry, "Never Been Here Before," though, Jennifer Brown has released what might be her most fun and singalong-worthy song since--well, maybe ever (disclaimer: I haven't heard her 1994 debut album or her second album). The melody is good, but live, it doesn't seem too remarkable; add in the great production work, though, and with those "oh-oh-oh"s sounding like they're supposed to, and you've got Jennifer, with the help of Peter Kvint, making an up-tempo song that should be but probably won't be her biggest hit in years; it may not have the electronic touches of Pixie's "Mama Do," but, much as I like that song, it's a lot more joy-inducing than "Mama Do" is (though to be fair, the intended effects of the songs aren't identical). We were just talking about songs perfect for summer? Add "Mr Running Man" to the list.
To buy Jennifer Brown's single "Mr Running Man," go here (digital).
While we're talking about Swedish songs that do both '60s and singalong-ready bounce that seem made for summer, Fibes, Oh Fibes!'s "Love Child" has a music video now. The reason for posting it less so that you all will watch it (though it's worth doing that) but moreso so that you'll listen to the song if you passed on it the last time I praised it. Months on, it's still at "play it once and I find myself compelled to play it again and again and again" levels.
