Lopez Blogs

If Sean and Sarah had come 3rd in the Swedish version of the X-Factor right now, they would currently be reigning as European pop royalty. Their debut album "Pop" would have ruled the charts and we would have had some amazing videos/dance routines for tracks like All Roads Lead To Heaven, Better Love Me and If You Can't Dance. Like kings and queens of Narnia, they would bestow pop benevolence on their adoring subjects. And why? Because Sweden completely and utterly understands, accepts and embraces pop music as a valid genre that is full of talent, creativity and value. Britain still retains a certain snobbiness about what constitutes credible music and unfortunately pop acts sometimes suffer as a result.

This is Britain's loss. The Rest is History is a triumph - moving on from "Pop", it's an album fuller of harder edged dance beats but that still places melody, rhythm, vocal delivery and catchy fun factor at the heart of each tune. It's relevant yet provides a tip of the hat to the influences that have come before it, including Wham, Steps and Girls Aloud. What really stands out about the album as a collective piece of work is that it feels like everyone involved in it (artist, label, management, etc) is passionate and enthusiastic about delivering a product that they feel proud of but that lives within the tennets of excellent modern pop music. It's also brimming with potential singles that take me back to the halcyon days of when acts like Steps, Blue, Atomic Kitten and S Club ruled the charts. Actually taking the S Club reference - this album is their don't stop moving as opposed to Pop being Reach.

It all kicks off with the glorious Souled Out which establishes the duo as purveyors of confident, catchy, melodic, club-bumping pop. In terms of magnificence, it's up there with tracks like Up (The Saturdays) and I Left My Heart In Tokyo (Mini Viva) ~ it gallops along leaving you a little breathless with anticipation for what's coming next. The chorus continues their ability to provide genuine pump-fist-in-the-air action; indeed for me it works as a first single much better than Shine On Forever did. That little gem is still a doozy however (and track five on the album) and definitely single worthy (perhaps it should have been single number two). It works even better within the confines of the album and sounds just as great now as it did four-five months ago. Euphoria follows Souled Out and is one of those tracks that seems to do what it says on the tin - provide 3 and a half minutes of euphoric, uplifting, almost trance laden music that makes you want to grab the one you love and shimmy. "Oh I want to be outrageous/i don't care where it takes us/let the music innovate us/this is euphoria" is the wise refrain - who hasn't felt like letting it all go to the right tune on the dancefloor?

What else can I say about one of my favourite tracks of the year, Karma Karma? It's instantly one of the catchiest, campiest songs I've heard in a long time. It would be a shoo-in had it been allowed to enter melodifestivalen and effervesces and bubbles along to a percolating beat much the same as Spice Up Your Life delighted and entertained over a decade ago. What works here is that there is no knowing wink about the camp factor here - it's embraced and accepted and that's what prevents songs like this devolving into silly nonsense. it's perfectly pitched and guaranteed to make you feel better, whatever your mood. Eeyore to Tigger in 4 minutes or less! Title track, The Rest Is History, instantly becomes the new Same Difference mission statement and anthem. Sure, the saying perhaps better befits a greatest hits collection, but Sean and Sarah have battled and persevered to get to this point and that alone is worth celebrating in today's tough pop climate. It was also incredibly smart of them to perform the tune on This Morning ~ while pop purists were clambouring to hear Karma Karma, this song is more likely to appeal to a much wider audience and stimulate album sales. Smooth move.

There's more pop genius in the form of tracks like the magical Waiting For The Moment (an insistent energetic  dance tune) and wonderfully melodic Emotions (more acoustic based, but is reminiscent of A*Teens once they ditched the abba covers). Both tracks remind you that these guys can really sing and the latter particularly really lets their sweet vocal harmony shine. Perhaps a more daring single choice for the duo would be the down and dirty, funk ridden Best Mistake. It really is Sean's time to shine as he leads the song off with one of his most confident and self assured vocal deliveries to date. The chorus really is a dream - a bit reminiscent of George Michael and totally like a Glee track. But yet again, rather than do a song in the style of Glee, they wisely go the route of creating a song that would sound equally as great if Glee picked up on it and used it in a showstopping season finale. Definitely one of the highlights of the album.

Finally, if you are looking for a change of pace, you could do far worse than checking out This Is Me. The piano-string led track is the X Factor's winners song they never got to sing. After the whirling dervish of dance and pop that preceeds it, this is a gorgeous change of pace. Similarly the final track, Broken Memories, is a mid-tempo bittersweet love song that winds things down perfectly yet still leaves you desperate for more. Ultimately, it's an album that will please and delight fans of pop. It's conscious of current trends and works with that, but doesn't bow to this pressure. if you're looking for a body of work that will make you smile, sing and dance, then you could do a hell of a lot worse than give this a go. Oh and Sweden totally gets this regardless ~ Karma Karma has charted on iTunes in Sweden this week on the daily charts reaching as high as number 51 with ZERO promotion. The reign begins...(PS, do do do seek out the physical copy - the back cover is immensicles and while they both look great, Sean looks proper dreamy :P)
Potential singles: Souled Out, Shine on forever, Karma Karma, Best Mistake, The Rest is History