Lopez Blogs

Not to quote Alan Carr but what a week it's been. It was all topped off by the laptop giving it's last breath of life on Friday despite copious amounts of mouth to mouth and that weird paddle thingy they do on Grey's Anatomy all the time while yelling "CLEAR"! But no, it moved on to a different plane of existence. Which does mean I have a fancy new computer now with a touch screen. It's like an enormous iPad!! All the better for watching things like this on... (normal-ish blogging will resume next week)!

The Overtones ~ Rolling In The Deep (Adele cover):
Adele is quite rightly everywhere this week. Her new album, 21 (read some excellent thoughts on it over at XO) has sold by the bucketload, the young lass has done a sterling live lounge session and charmed a nation with her latest and incredibly witty visit to Alan Carr: Chatty Man (two Alan Carr references in one post? Ooo what am I like, etc?!) Her current smash single, Rolling In The Deep, is the story of a scorned lover set against a bluesy backdrop of intense piano, soulful and meaningful production and some chanted backing vocals that ably aid the theme of recrimination and regret. So what could my beloved Overtones bring to the mix with their interpretation of this sterling tune? Well for starters, they are all very nattily turned out again (loving the polo neck jumper-flat cap country gent combo and lots of spiffy shirt-tie Mad Men looks going on) and instantly produce a doo-wop version of the tune. It's powered forward by the seamless way the vocal harmonies and fingerclicks blend together like the smoothest of cocktails, creating a wonderfully vivid and luscious backdrop of music without a single instrument in sight. Tim delivers a sterling vocal performance switching between an emotive delivery and falsetto without skipping a bit. The 50s style of music takes away the more growling feel of Adele's track, but credit to the boys for not making it feel like an S Club chirpy cover - they keep the intensity of the lyrics in every nuance of the performance and the last few baritone notes by Lachey seem to add a new level of pathos to the track as it trails off in to deep thought. Amazing...

Top 21 songs of the week: