Lopez Blogs

You would think I have had enough of going on about Same Difference. If you were thinking that i was thinking i had actually had enough about writing about them, then you were absolutely thinking wrong. Even the return of Discotheque has not got me sufficiently excited not to continue writing about them (would it kill Beyond to reform?!) as today, finally, I got to hear the single We Are One, and not on a crackly radio station but in high quality glory. And quite honestly, it's very good. It takes elements of pop throughout the "ages" and merges them into one single. It's practically a history lesson of pop. In fact, much like my ill-fated attempt to look at all the brilliant bits of the Simon Curtis spectacular preview, I need to examine how We Are One is actually a history lesson in itself...

What?: The first twenty seconds of the song are just Sean singing about following his dreams, while some lovely piano tinkles gently in the background...

History: It is melodically very reminiscent of the verses of Lionel Richie's Hello. I doubt Sean will be blindly fingering some clay in the video though...

History2: Like the pop idol/american idol/x factor/geraldine piss take winners singles, the lyrics are about making your dreams come true. I do quite adore motivational pop so this works for me.

What?: Sarah comes in at about 20 seconds and they trade off solo delivered lines for about 18 seconds about looking back and using the experience to move forward and grow...

History: It's all abit H&Claire, but in fairness, H&Claire's greatest moment, which was the beginning of All Out Of Love. Magnificent bit of pop there...

What?: Then it's the chorus that the world and his dog has now heard a million times on popjustice. The voices harmonise together in a most pleasing fashion, and i can't stop going around now telling people that "this is good, this is great". Bonus points for choosing a song with a title that also relates to the band name (We Are One = Same Difference. Unity, etc.)

History: Well, the chorus is one part Breaking Free from High School Musical (thus fulfilling their almost obligation to release the song without actually having to release it) and one part Here and Now by Steps, which at the time was my least fave single by them. Over the proceeding years it has grown on me though and now I am quite fond of it.

What?: There is no break between the final note of the chorus (together we are oneeeeeee) and Sean starting to sing the middle 8. It has built up into a powerhouse of polished production and soaring vocals before retreating into a more restrained mid tempo vocal to end the middle 8.

History: The song is written by Jorgan Olafsson! He bloody loves his slowed down middle 8s! The best example that comes to mind is the middle 8 in Shayne Ward's That's My Goal, which even allowed time in the video for Kate Thornton to recap her saying that Shayne was the winner. Euphoric brilliance ensued.

What?: It's then back to that glorious chorus, which finishes off the song in a lovely fashion and makes you want to start playing it again instantly.

History: Well, none really, because it's very Sean and Sarah. I mean, yes it's a hundred different songs in one and all of them great sing a long numbers, and many harking back to my glory days of pop around the year 2000. What this single effectively does is deliver that HSM sound that was their signature on the show, blend it with the sound of pop from 8 years ago and mix it with today's technology. It's not going to change the world, but it is going to make it smile a lot. And that's more than i get out of some pop singles. Sheer gloriosity.

And how else could I finish that, than with Sean and Sarah doing something with balloons! BALLOONS! Amazing!