Too many great people are leaving the land of pop this week.
Donna Summer, Robin Gibb, I bid you safe travels. Thank you for the music.
I might have more words later on, but for now:
Pro tip for The Voice
Every time someone on The Voice says ‘smashed it’, this is the face I make.
Actually sod it, any time Danny appears in my peripheral vision full stop this is the face I make.
Ms Mr – ‘Hurricane’
Hello dark sultry synth pop of the highest order it is nice to see you again.
There isn’t a lot currently known about Ms Mr, aside from this frankly well shoddy press shot that someone undoubtedly got paid a grand for DESPITE THEIR HEADS BEING CUT OFF. I mean, what?
Fortunately this is one of those tracks that manages to be strangely euphoric while having its roots firmly in the gloom. It feels like a sort of strange mash-up of Sugababes’ ‘Stronger’ and Husband’s ‘Love Song’, if you can imagine such a thing. Well you don’t need to because it is here. And it is good.
Also excellent is the continuation of gender-oriented descriptor thingies as band names. See also: She & Him, which I’m guessing might have inspired this one a bit, being practically the same?!
Gaggle – ‘Army of Birds’
Well this is officially one of the more mental things to hit my inbox this week. A 21-strong all-female choir – yes it is a LAYDEEZ ACT – making booming poptaculars tightroping it between R&B, hip-hop, rock and electronica. And harmonies. Obviously.
‘Army of Birds’ is an obscenely catchy snark against reality TV talent shows. I have listened to it approximately 872376523 times since I first put it on my ipod yesterday afternoon. It is a ginormous crash bang wallop of a funk jam, which needs to get played in clubs up and down the land. Now, please.
‘Army of Birds’ is the first single from upcoming album From The Mouth Of The Cave, which I’ve been lucky enough to get a sneaky listen to. It’s all as monstrously huge-sounding as this, I can promise you; an early highlight is ‘Liar’, which talks about lying, cheating blokes. And their dead bodies. Excellent.
You can check out Army of Birds below with this animated video thing. Now with added vaguely rude ‘Gaggle’ logo. Because we couldn’t have an all-female choir thingy without something a bit dirty for the weekend could we?!
Icona Pop – ‘I Love It’
I’m not usually a major subscriber to the Scandi Pop thing – I like it as much as I like anything else, but I don’t hold that absolutely everything that comes out of there is automatically amazing. This, though, might force me to reassess this theory.
Icona Pop have been bubbling under for aaaaaaages now, and like Niki and the Dove, Amanda Mair and Sound of Arrows, this looks like it’s their time. Like all those acts, they’ve got the technical bits of How To Make Great Pop down solid, with blips, synths and gigantochoruses. Unlike some of those acts, they’ve got all the boisterousness of your standard Friday night out in Soho, especially on ‘I Love It’ which details the resounding disposal and/or trashing of just about anything with any connection to this week’s Idiot Boy. I fully believe that these ladies would have absolutely zero trouble telling said idiot boy to piss off and have a cold shower if he can’t be bothered to man up and buckle down to the appropriate standard. Actually that’s pretty much what ‘Manners’ is about let’s be honest.
If this, ‘Manners’ and ‘Nights Like These’ are anything to go by, Icona Pop’s album is going to be an utter barnstormer and can’t get here fast enough.
Quite possibly the best pop song of 2012 so far. Smart, completely shambolic, utterly brilliant. Note to pop stars, everywhere: this is how you do it.