Sophie Ellis Bextor - Can't Fight This Feeling:
There is something utterly butterly magnificent about Sophie Ellis of Bextor-Jones. Part of it is her wonderfully british pronounciation of words like Darn-sar. Part of it is her effortlessly glittery pop tunes. And part of it is that she has bagged the hottest buffster from The Feeling (in my humble opinion - take a bow, and take your pants off Richard Jones!). So her fall from grace (ish) is quite disheartening. Back in 2001, SEB-J was the toast of the pop world. Single after single nestled in the top ten from her gorgeous debut album. Fast forward 8 years (past when The Feeling were the most played act on radio to their woefully ignored second album) and while she still churns out top notch pop, the public have cooled towards her. Trip The Light Fantastic was THE shimmering disco epic of 2007, but sadly did not reach the sales high of her debut. Last year saw a couple of songs seep onto her myspace, most notably the delightful Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer and a new SEB album has been rumoured ever since. This isn't exactly a new SEB song (a remix of the track has been doing the rounds for a while), but part of the Junior Caldera album - however, it's a return to a more club-oriented sound for LaBex, who indeed launched herself as a featured vocalist on Spiller's Groovejet. It's ever so slightly ravey for my tastes, but I'll take my Sophie where I can get her. She sounds as lovely as ever, and I do enjoy songs about the giddiness of falling in love against somewhat euphoric beats. So not the best Sophie Ellis Bextor Jones single ever, but much like an average episode of Buffy, still miles better than a lot of crap out there...
BWO - You're Not Alone:
There is no denying that once they established their glorious "Steps for a mature audience" sound (is that heresy? Or merely a more polished Hear'say?) on the excellent and brilliantly titled Prototype, that BWO have been stuck in a bit of a rut. But like the ruts you sometimes get stuck in with your partner, which includes satisfying sex at least twice a week (I'm talking metaphorically, not dazpantally here. Our sex is always mindblowing), it's quite a nice rut to be in. The Bods are one of my favourite pop groups of recent years, with an outstanding run of euphoric sounding singles under their belt - none of which have even bothered to tickle the UK charts :( Their newest single, post greatest hits, has been described as an epic gothic electro ballad that marks a new direction for the band. I'm not sure how new this direction is, because the track sounds vaguely similar to Will My Arms Be Strong Enough. However, not very slowly at all, I have fallen in love with the song with it's brillo-as-ever-talky Marina middle eight and an amazing choir at the end, which Martin's voice compliments quite nicely. Plus I always appreciate a good key change, weird strobe light sticks and Marina-ettes as backing dancers (in the melodifestivalen performance anyway). As a ballad, i suspect like Open Door it will work best for me in that format, but when i finally get to hear the uptempo version, I will probably love that equally as much. So not outstandingly different, but much beloved by me all the same. Amazing album cover that looks like they are auditioning for the rumoured V remake. (Darren and I l-o-v-e V). Sadly if that were to become big here, most pop kids would look at it and scoff that it had some old dude on the front :( Cretins!
Sophie Ellis Bextor - Can't Fight This Feeling:
