My turn to look over the single releases that will be bothering you for 99p from Monday, and as it’s officially August expect sun, sea, sand and… bumblebeees.
Clean Bandit Feat. Stylo G ‘Come Over’
The steel drum hasn’t ever been a regular chart botherer, and based on this effort from Clean Bandit (is that a Home Alone reference?) it’s easy to see why. While Hot Chip managed to make them an acceptable addition to a summer jam, this is more like a Shaggy or Sean Paul track (indeed, featured artist Stylo G is from Jamaica) from yesteryear, dragged through a decade (and vocoder) and planted in 2014. The “You bring the sun-sun-sun-sun-sunshine” line is undeniably catchy, and the strings within an electronic act is an impressive feature, but it’s the sort of sound that might sound OK coming from cheap pool-side speakers in a foreign water park.
Jessie Ware ‘Tough Love’
Sifting a soft Kate Bush and Prince duet-like-vocal through timid trip-hop beats, Jessie Ware’s first offering from sophomore album Tough Love sees an already accomplished artist further making her mark as one of the most unique female solo acts. The Sade to Adele’s Alison Moyet (she counts the ‘Someone Like You’ singer as a friend too), Ware meanders through a warm sea of beats, loops and electronic ticks (perhaps water and electricity do mix) on a track that won’t be one of the years most memorable summer anthems, but will surely soundtrack the more chilled out, early hours of the morning moments.
Kasabian ‘bumblebeee’
The number used to open their Glastonbury and Leicester Summer Solstice shows – and #1 album 48:13 – ‘bumblebeee’ returns Kasabian to their anthemic electronically-tinged rock roots, following the EDM Marmite of lead-single ‘eez-eh’. (Am I right in thinking all of these titles are in lower case?) While the keyboard-led verses follow a bumblebee like flight, the chant of the chorus is more like a swarm of wasps, stinging those who continue to attempt to write off the band. As Tom “welcomes you now to the second act,” it certainly feels that 2014 has cemented Kasabian as one of the biggest acts the UK has to offer, and Serge written/produced tracks like this (delivered with Tom’s wanker-less swagger) show just why.
OneRepublic ‘Love Runs Out’
Having written tracks for everyone and their grandmother (possibly even the one playing piano on this video) Ryan Tedder returns to his own band for another predictably beat-driven earworm of a song. As with ‘Catching Stars’, ‘Love Runs Out’ is an annoyingly catchy four minutes – this time made up of a more organic backing, all hand claps, stomping drums and simple, strong piano chords – and is unlikely to win over non-fans, but there’s no denying Tedder’s ability to write and produce monster hits. But then again, you can’t take that away from Pete Waterman either. (The over-excited electronics of the Passion Pit remix are worth a listen though.)
Wild Beasts ‘Mecca’
Wild Beasts continue their gentle stampede from jagged art rockers to smooth dream poppers with ‘Mecca’, their third release from fourth LP, Present Tense. Lead single ‘Wanderlust’ played with deep, unorthodox rhythms, yet ‘Mecca’ has more in common with second cut ‘A Simple Beautiful Truth’, with both tracks allowing soft synth effects to merge with frontman Hayden Thorpe’s sometimes falsetto, often faint vocal. This isn’t a criticism, however, as the blend of this with those faint Aztec beats delivers intelligent lines about how “I’m a pilgrim; you’re the shrine to all the lovers that loved before us, and breathed in this ether” with stunning, soundtrack-like subtlety.
Dan Bull
@danbull7609
Dan Bull
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