Dealing with the mainstream

(The song which is the subject of this post is not available on YouTube if you live outside the UK, but you can stream a low quality version of what is probably a radio rip on this non-official MySpace site.)

There's a probably undeserved sense of self-satisfaction that comes from loving a song not fully embraced by others (whether "others" is the general public or a much smaller segment of the people you usually interact with) and then seeing that song's artist fully bloom in a way that consolidates your original belief in that first song while also creating the perception that they're only getting better. That really awkward opening is my way of leading into the fact that Tinchy Stryder's new single is fantastic summery pop. "Take Me Back," his Taio Cruz-featuring breakthrough single taken from his upcoming album Catch 22, deservedly went to #1 in the UK, but I didn't see it get too much blog love (even I was guilty of not writing about it here, though I praise it elsewhere).

Follow-up single "Number 1" was even better, with a perfect pop chorus--in fact, perfect pop everything, even though Tinchy's more hip-hop (grime?) style gave the song a welcome additional flavor.

I couldn't tell you yet whether Tinchy's latest single, "Never Leave You," featuring Amelle of the Sugababes, is better than "Number 1," but it's certainly yet another fantastic song with a sound that is both exactly the sort of thing that should be in the charts in 2009 and yet is totally refreshing. Tinchy's kept the strings around and, if it's possible, its chorus is even poppier than that of "Number 1." Breezy, poppy, summery, lovey-dovey pop-meets-hip-hop? Yes, please.

It was just a fling before--now, you're the one

Two very different songs I'm loving at the moment:




As far as rap (or grime) meets pop goes, we're in a pretty decent moment right now and British artist Tinchy Stryder's upcoming single "Number 1" looks to continue that trend. Here, the pop is vaguely electro, with some strings thrown in for good measure, but, good as the verses are, it's nearly all about the chorus, which is just really good catchy pop stuff. It's perfect for singing along, over-the-top gesturing, iPod play, radio play...just about anything. Co-writer Fraser T. Smith is really on a roll, as well as showing some writing diversity: he also wrote James Morrison and Nelly Furtado's "Broken Strings."



I have to thank Bobby of Don't Stop The Pop for giving me the go-ahead to write about Via Gra's "My Emancipation" since DSTP's Swedish season means he can't write about it right now. The song, a 2008 single from the Russian/Ukrainian group with enough line-up changes to easily put the Pipettes to shame, had me hooked from the moment that hard disco-electro beat kicked in--it's a bit like the sort of thing I'd expect Dimitris Kontopoulos to come up with, though it doesn't go for full-force punch in quite the same way. The music video, depicting a bank robbery, is full of synchronized strutting (including through a laser-filled chamber) and men falling to the ground at the mere sight of the girls, in addition to including what is probably the most amazing gun shot in music video history. Fabulousness personified? Oh yes.