Lopez Blogs

Darin - Flashback: Album number four from lovely little Darin sees him move on from his pop-club roots to a more polished pop-meets-r'n'b-meets-sleek-funk sound. No more B What U Wanna type playground chats for this dude (But I still live in hope that Gareth Gates will cover that song and return blazing to the top of the pop charts here in the UK. Instead he will probably release Any Dream Will Do)... Instead, the album is a mixture of in your face club-hop tracks like the divine first single Breathing Your Love and more "quiet storm" type ballads like the epic Road Trip. I suppose for me, this is the Darin album that most wants to crack the American market, and it's lucky that he carries off the musical direction he has chosen with such passion, style and panache, because it could have easily been a disaster. In that respect, the nearest acts I can compare him to are Chris Brown, Simon Curtis and Lady Gaga. Let me explain that somewhat. For me Chris Brown and the forthcoming Simon Curtis "Alter Boy" album are prime examples of how to straddle different genres of music with effortless grace. They switch between driven club beats & r'n'b influences, while never forgetting the importance of a soaring pop chorus. And if, as the BBC quite rightly points out, Lady Gaga encapsulates the sound of 2009 without actually being that sound, then Darin may well be the more likeable male equivalent. The uptempo numbers shine with energy, such as Dance,which appropriately is very Just Dance-esque (as is the excellent Girl Next Door). The title track is a great tune, even if it isn't the flawless Simon Curtis number, and Karma shares the same sparse drum driven electro vibe. Really, it must be said that Darin has hit on a formula he is clearly happy with and the album could be very hit laden because of it. Not my favourite Darin album ever, but an incredibly cohesive effort.
Potential singles: Breathing Your Love; Roadtrip; Dance; See You At The Club; Season's Fly

Danny - Set Your Body Free: Let me state for the record that if Darin is the cool credible sound of Sweden moving towards world domination, then Danny is the guy who throws caution to the wind to continue with his disco pop excellence. He already charmed me with his quite adorable tunes like Tokyo, Play It For The Girls (*raises eyebrows* Really Danny? :P) and the ace ballad Only You. Now he's back with a new album that doesn't really deviate from this formula and that's ok because I don't want a deviant Danny! Strike that - I'd be quite happy for an evening with a deviant Danny. The lead single Radio is already quite well known, and sets the tone for the rest of the album - huge pop choruses decorated with club beats. Take Kiss You All Over (yes please) for example - it has a back beat similar to Call The Shots and has Danny imploring that he feels like making love. Very sensitive I'm sure, but it works for him. Emely (do not like the spelling, but each to their own) could become this album's rerecorded as a duet and is quite pleasant. All On You is to be the second single, and is indeed a fine choice as it could quite easily spawn a video with some goofy Danny dancing and maybe some glo-sticks. Yes, I'm quite pleased with that highly unoriginal video pitch :) There is a real danger (and it's one that happens with Darin's album, and I suppose it will depend on how much you like the acts) that it all gets a bit samey, but by the excellent and popjustice approved ex-Avenue tune Set Your Body Free you'll either be hooked and having a rollicking good time, or you will have given up ages ago. Give it a chance though because, though ground breaking it ain't, it IS quite a jolly good romp...
Potential singles: Radio; All On You; Emely; Set Your Body Free; Schizophrenia

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: I don't really show how much I like Franz Ferdinand. I think they are quite unassuming in their brilliance, and I like that in people. A little humility can often go a long way. Their new album - arising from the aborted xenomania sessions shows that while it's not the male Girls Aloud album some people might have been hoping for, that indeed it's a proper indie record with heavy pop leanings. Ulysess is punchy and compact, with some fuzzy guitar work and eclectic mix of disco beats as Alex prepares for his night out with his chant "I've Found A New Way". And the album has a thematic pull to it as it details a night out with the boys. Turn It On and No You Girls reak of xenomania influences and are up there with great fist pumping songs like Take Me Out and This Ffire. No You Girls has the fantastic opening line "Lick your cigarette and kiss me" which sounds strangely gross, dirty and enticing all in one pulsating intoxicating rhythm. Twilight Omens also belongs to this camp of quite ace left right left rhythmic future classics. Elsewhere there are shades of Roxy Music on Send Him Away and Bite Hard which prove whatever the song is, FF are quite able to find an indie-disco beat and make it work til the sweat drips onto their skinny ties. The latter half of the album continues the move towards electronica fused disco on songs like Live Alone which takes us to an all too real world where love is ruined by bickering and argument. Strangely sad despite the grab-the-one-you-love-and-shimmy beat going on in the background (more sadness on Can't Stop Feeling - "you leave me here on my own, you leave me here on the floor, you can't feel any more"). The album starts to wind up the night out towards the end, and by the time the lazy ballad Katherine Kiss Me rolls around, it's a welcome breather from the frenetic exhilarating pace that has bought the listener to this point. Quite a return to form for a band that I was never really that disappointed with anyway...
Potential singles: Ulysess; No You Girls; Twilight Omens; Lucid Dreams (edited or album version)

Alarming personal anecdote from today: While I typed this post up in a Starbucks in Lincolnshire whilst awaiting for a meeting, a woman who was literally on the same table as me started breast feeding her child! With her boob! Less than a metre away from me! And it was massive (the boob) so it kept falling out of the child's mouth and all my please-god-don't-let-me-look eyes were drawn to was her roving nipple which looked like a pissed off cauliflower. Then when she stuffed it back into her bra (the boob) it all leaked through onto her blouse. It was a charming moment. The end.

Well honestly. You crack open the pre-Christmas bubbly and not a day later the early fruits of the campaign advice come flooding onto radio in the form of Sugababes "Girls". I read the brilliant article about it over at Popjustice before I actually heard the song, so was a little bit dubious at first. However, all my dubiosity has disappeared now i have heard the track and here are my reasons why (PS check out Strike Curious Poses' opinion on it too!):

• It doesn't matter that it was part of an advert. It's brilliantly retro and up to date all in one
• They have got a new wardrobe - they've bagged their red dress and got a nice slinky black number. Temptresses!
• It's got a touch of Mark Ronson about the production without Mark Ronson actually being involved. I like Mark but he's a bit everywhere at the moment, so horns and trumpets without him being involved are a-ok in my book.
• The scary popjustice forumers have branded the song "chavvy" Like Sugababes and Girls Aloud weren't chavs before! They've been in knife attacks, worn hoop earrings and beaten up toilet attendants.
• Much like the incredibly wonderful About You Now, which took several listens for me to realise how marvelously insidious the song was when it got inside your head, by 5th listen Girls is a pop almost cover classic in the making.
• Not every song the Sugababes has to be a Hole In The Head. When they don't make music that is all electro-pop people complain and yearn for those electro pop days. If they still did, you can bet people would grumble and say "well it's ok, but it's no Freak Like Me!" I think when pop acts try to make music to please everyone, it must be hugely stressful so they should just make the music they like and hope others like it too.
• The video is bound to be mega. Part Denial type catwalk fest, part massive strut around looking slutty, it will be all over the music tv channels and Christmas parties, mark my words. (Whatever that means)
• Changes (the album) was way too overrated. I mean it had About You Now, Denial and the ace My Love is Pink on it. If the new single and album match those, i will be a happy bunny!

Other tracks floating around:

• Franz Ferdinand have leaked a non album/non single track onto their webpage called Lucid Dreams. I forgot how much I like Franz Ferdinand and this song reminds me of why their third album needs to be brilliant.
• Xo has a non exclusive track for legal download from the new Jem album. I must do a retrospective on how amazing I thought the debut Jem album was. I will be sure to check out XO's roots when Madonna-ing in Cardiff...
• A very decent radio rip of Will Young's increasingly fantastic with each listen Changes is floating aroun there somewhere
• By the time those lovely Lorraine boys get around to releasing their album, it will surely be a greatest hits! Just whip it online already! The latest single of the most delayed album this side of Dangerous Muse and Chinese Democracy is a laid back groove called Tell It All that explodes in the chorus and should be a massive hit but sadly won't be :(

THE place to get a weird and wonderful set of eclectic covers is the marvelous Copy, Right - and there's no way I can top that site...:) But i can post a few of my favourite recent cover versions from the frankly quite lovely Jo Wileys live lounge on BBC Radio One... Enjoy peeps!

Arctic Monkeys - Love Machine (girls aloud cover)
~ there is something insanely brilliant about this cover and just goes to show what an amazing pop tune it is. And while we're on the subject, i totally think that we have PopBoy to thank for the Sugababes covering I Bet That You Look Good...

William Young - Don't Cha (Pussyflap trolls cover)
~ I really wanted to not like the PCD song but it slowly insinuated itself into my brain. Damn it! But Williams version is ever so jazz tinged and lovely. I'm on cloud 8 every time i listen to it (cloud 9 was full)

Kaiser Chiefs - What Time Is Love (klf cover)
~ the jury is out on whether this is a pile of old wet knickers or postmodern comment on the electro trash brilliance of the new millenium. What do you think??

Franz Ferdinand - What You Waiting For (gwen stefani cover)
~ Aaah Gwenners. Definitely picked the weakest songs on her album - bar this one - as singles. Its what i call the Hilary Duff syndrome. Still this was phantasmagorical track and this FF version rocks 1000 times harder than it has any right to :)