#fear of mu21c

[weaversweek]

"The fear" and "Grace Kelly"

Twice more unto the breach, with a pair of singles both popular and quality. It's the #FearOfMu21c project, where we’re crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. This index post has all the entries.

"The fear" - Lily Allen

Daughter of Keith, sister of Alfie, Lily Allen might have been the most talented of them all. In a short hitmaking career (nine hits from 2006 to 2010, and a six-week revival in 2013), Lily showed she understood the young person's condition. The precarious life, take little pleasures when we can. Not so much a life of hedonism, but a life betrayed by the generations above.

"The fear" is a state-of-society capsule from 2009, written by Greg Kurstin and Lily Allen. "Life's about film stars and less about mothers. It's all about fast cars and cussing each other."

If the generation above had any sort of introspection, they'd ask themselves, "why do our children feel like this? Could we have done better?" But no, for the boomers and 50s kids, it's all "me me me me me", and they're still at it.

Grace Kelly - Mika

An ode to his insecurity, Mika puts on all sorts of different faces in an effort to impress someone. By the end of the song, he's learned that someone else has insecurities, and to have a little confidence in himself.

Written by Dan Warner, John Merchant, Jodi Marr, and Mika, this was the breakthrough single from early 2007, a slight return for vaudeville into the top five. The parent album, "Life in Cartoon Motion", was eye-poppingly bright, but the anglophone markets didn't like it when he went serious a few years later.

Mika has remained popular in France and Italy, where pop stars are allowed to have quality. He's done casting shows for major broadcasters, and a song competition in Turin.

[weaversweek]

An excellent choice.

At the time, Gaga was playing some sort of role, acting so we couldn't get to know the real person. Only in retrospect can we see that, throughout The Fame Monster, Gaga is playing a hyperreal role, quite deliberately exaggerating every action to draw attention to the banal and depressing reality. It's a tremendous achievement.

For my list, "Bad romance" was one of the most difficult decisions: weighed up against the more straightforward acting on "Shallow", which is the better song? Or do they both get in and someone else misses out?

Oh, the pain of FearOfMu21c!

FearOfMu21c #5

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

Released - Oct 19 2009

Highest Chart Position - #1

Spotify streams to date - 1,031,224,746

Lady Gaga’s big era was completely swallowed up by illness for me so I can’t say for sure if I’d have liked her or not first time around, but I picked up The Fame Monster for a pound last year and since then I’ve been consistently drawn back to it. I think what struck me first about Bad Romance was the sheer violence with which it’s perpetrated. If you listen to it thru tinny headphones on an mp3 player (and as a 2009 release this is surely where it belongs), it is a punishing experience, much like being hit solidly around the head with a club for well over 4 minutes. But while some might think that’s a bad thing, they would in fact be wrong, because that unmitigated beating is actually central to its appeal (to me at least). 

Gaga sings about being “caught in a bad romance” but it’s clear from the start that she’s desperate to ensnare herself, going beyond desire into something wholly deranged. It is, I guess, a kind of emotional (and less off-putting) corollary to “I Like It Rough”, where the pain and the drama, rather than being an unpleasant byproduct, become the goal of the relationship itself. As she dementedly wails at the high point of the song, she really doesn’t want to be friends. 

And while to some degree it’s being played for laughs - the sheer scale with which she’s hamming it up is pretty obvious - the darkness of it all is the thing that powers things along. You hear it in the relentlessness of those beats, the distorted EDM hooks, the sense of sleaze that runs thru its veins. But like all the best Gaga songs, it channels that spirit into something much more like a celebration than it should ever be able to. If there’s a record that truly captures the feeling of really enjoying being torn to pieces, then surely it is Bad Romance.

[weaversweek]

"Summer girl" and "Turn off the light"

Another pair for the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. An index post.

Summer girl - Haim

Trying to conjure up a bit of hope on a dark day, this soft jazz number features "doo-doo"s and a calm vocal. There's a lazy bassline, perhaps a bit too close to the wild side, and eventually a sax solo.

"Summer girl" was inspired by the time Danielle Haim's lover had a cancer diagnosis. She wrote, "I wanted to be his hope when he was feeling hopeless, so I kept singing these lines." But the song works without the back story, it's a light sorbet, the musical equivalent of a refreshing glass of Pimms in the heatwave.

The song's a bit different from earlier Haim work, less polished, more skittish, but keeping the harmonies and emotional intimacy that had become Haim's trademark. Written by Danielle, Alana, and Este Haim, their producers Ariel Rechtshaid and Rostam Batmanglij, and Lou Reed gets royalties for the fraction of "Walk on the wild side".

Turn off the light - Nelly Furtado

I could have picked any of a dozen singles by Nelly Furtado. The debut, "I'm like a bird", with soaring vocals. The whole "Loose" album, "Maneater" and "Promiscuous" and many more. "Big hoops" from the forgotten album Spirit Indestructible. Even "Forza" from Folklore - in retrospect, it sounds great next to other great fado and Portuguese songs.

"Turn off the light" gets my nod. Second single from "Whoa, Nelly!", it's a well-written song with a strong dance beat. Nelly had already turned ears for the mixture of sounds and textures; here, Nelly uses her lyrical prowess to make poetry from the mundane. The video features Nelly around the world, colourful and dark, wet and warm. Sounds a bit like a song by Edie Brickell? Not hearing it myself, but maybe that's swamp mud in my ears…

[weaversweek]

"If you love someone" and "Sk8er boi"

Another two for the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

"If you love someone" - The Veronicas

Gothpop twins Jessica and Lisa Origliasso have been making great music for most of the century. They've gone from power pop (4ever, All about us) through synth-dance (Untouched), and then into an era of molten Barbie poured into a crucible with black eyeliner. Or something like that.

"If you love someone" comes from The Veronicas' 2014 eponymous album, itself following five years of development hell and a transfer from Warner Brothers to Sony. There's anger on the album, most notably on the sarcastic "Did you miss me". The song's co-written by Lisa and Jessica, their regular collaborator Josh Katz, and songwriting powerhouse DNA Music.

And it's happy, upbeat, inclusive. A big giant hug for all the queers, all the misfits, all the people who don't quite fit into Normal Bread Society. Yes, it's a simple and universal emotion, expressed in an uncomplicated way. And sometimes, the simple stuff is just right.

"Sk8er boi" - Avril Lavigne

Speaking of simple concepts: "He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it any more obvious?"

Avril Lavigne splashed onto the scene in summer 2002, and snotty bratty mall-punks around the world found their eyes popping out on stalks. "Complicated" had an interesting video; "Sk8er boi" was the soundtrack to rebellion. A youthful, limited, acting out against the system rebellion.

Written by Avril with powerpop trio The Matrix, "Sk8er boi" tells of a doomed romance between a posh ballet superstar who spurns the advances of a snotty bratty skater boy. By concluding with the news that Avril gets with the skater, we're spared the problem of explaining a genderbent Mary Sue to 2002.

The song is a blast. Literally: it begins at high volume and doesn't stop. The lyric starts as simple, staccatto phrases - until it gets complex. There's plenty of music to be had - power pop chords, hook after hook, and Avril shows she can sing. But it's the energy that impresses - "Sk8er boi" sees the line between "milquetoast" and "too loud", dances along it, turns a few cartwheels, and ends by making an iconic hand gesture in our face.

It's one of Avril's signature songs, alongside "Complicated" and 2007's "Girlfriend" - all three made my longlist for this project.

[weaversweek]

Eleven points to "Bulletproof" by La Roux

This time, maybe, I'll be bulletproof.

Electroclash pop, a vocal to burn toast at a thousand paces, and a chorus never to be forgotten.

Elly Jackson has style, that androgynous genderqueer punk dystopian vibe we all loved in 2009. First single "In for the kill" had impressed; this follow-up left us hollering the chorus while three sheets to the wind, a cry of complete love, a call of hope that we can get through this next bit.

Sonically, it's an homage to the experimental edge of 80s pop - Yazoo, Depeche Mode before they could afford whips 'n' chains, Heaven 17 when they were exciting. In image, it's what that era thought 2009 would be like - and they were right.

Easily an ELFPUNTEN. But not the douze points, in part because Elly's grown a little tired of being just That Cool Kid from Bulletproof. Go investigate the rest of La Roux's work. It repays in spades.

This is part of the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

[weaversweek]

"Closer" and "Year 3000"

Two to go in the #FearOfMu21c project, part of an effort to crowdsource the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

Closer - Tegan & Sara

No space for the Indigo Girls on #FearOfMu21c, for the simple reason they didn't release many singles at all this century. Instead, we look to the north, where Tegan and Sara Quin are everyone's heartthrobs.

The lead single from "Heartthrob", "Closer" confirmed the duo's transition from folksy-singer-songwriters into a sleek disco machine. A late-70s synth riff announces the song, it cuts through clutter on the dancefloor and on the radio.

And then we're into a dreamlike space, playful and energetic and with a wistful romance. Tegan said, "I intended to write something sweet that reminded the listener of a time before sex, complicated relationships, drama and heartbreak. I was writing about my youth -- a time when we got closer by linking arms and walking down our school hallway, or talked all night on the telephone about every thought or experience we'd ever had."

Some would describe it as a song about, um, more physical intimacy, with the unsubtle couplet "All you think of lately is getting underneath me / All I’m dreaming lately is how to get you underneath me". Tegan acknowledges the thought, "I do imagine that this would be an okay song to make out to". Tegan's the lead writer on the song, finished by twin sister Sara and their producer Greg Kurstin.

"Closer" travels with great precision, locked into its target. It tells us about the small moments to make affairs of the heart both so specific and so universal. It won the Juno award as Single of the Year for 2013. Tegan and Sara continue to make awesome music, and a memoir, and tv show "High School" with a lesbian-not-particularly-binary queer overtext; their one hit over here is from The Lego Movie, "Everything is AWESOME!"

Year 3000 - Busted

A projection of the future, one of the great singalong songs from the start of the century. "Year 3000" put Busted on the map, proved they were more than one-hit wonders.

We can't dissect the song too deeply. Songwriters Matt, Charlie, and James with producer Steve Robson were inspired by "Back to the Future" and "Under the Sea with Willy Fog", by the group's anticipated seventh album, and the long-lasting celebrity of Michael Jackson. Ah well, two out of three ain't bad.

"Year 3000" is completely disposable pop, and it's wormed its way into everyone's heads. Boy bands, and another one, and another, and another one.

[weaversweek]

Eleven points to "New Americana"

Last of the bonuses - the top five - in the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

New Americana - Halsey

The fifth and final bonus point goes here, the second single from Halsey's album "Badlands". An anthem for the millennial generation, Halsey rejects the values of her parents, as all teenagers through history have done.

Halsey's generation takes diversity to heart, because diversity comes from the heart. They explained further, "It's this idea of these kids who are part of a generation where pop culture is so heavily influential that diversity doesn't scare them the way it scared our parents and their parents. We're more accepting of different walks of life. So I think the New Americana is racially ambiguous, people who are proud of their culture and they own it, possibly not from a binary of gender."

She sings of a generation that mocks itself, doesn't take itself too seriously. A pointed satire, to the point where stupid people stop understanding it. "I made it as click-bait-y, nursery rhyme-y as I could. I was making this comment on how we have this click-bait culture, but a lot of people took it seriously, like, 'Wow, she's being so buzzword-y!' Ding, ding, ding - that's on purpose!"

Comparisons have been made with Halsey's peers - Lorde, Taylor Swift from a step-generation above, Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple from her parents' time. Halsey is angry, mean, troubled, and supremely talented. "New Americana" was written by Halsey with Larzz Principato and Kalkutta. It demands to be played twice, just as Zane Lowe did when premiering it on {Broomsticks} 1. It's a tremendous zeitgeisty rush, a foundational text for a generation younger than me…

…and that's what gives Halsey problems. Halsey's breakout hit is the one they got bored of. Having to perform one track over and over and over again could bore the brightest talent: just ask Francesco Gabbiani, who got cheesed off when he performed "Occidentali's karma" for months on end. I respect Halsey's position, and while my heart says this is the Song of the Century (So Far), my head says "no".

"New americana" is a perfect document of the cultural zeitgeist. It captures and explains what it's like to be young in the early years of the twenty-first century.

[weaversweek]

"Baby shark"

Into the final week in the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post. And here's one with as many nominations (1) as the entire Ed Sheeran catalogue.

Baby shark - Pinkfong

Throughout this list, I've commented on the techniques of song writing. A good pop song is catchy and memorable and has hooks. A great pop song will use its limited time to go somewhere unexpected. A good song will convey its message; a great song will leave us in no doubt about its meaning. A good song will want to be heard; a great song demands to be heard again.

"Baby shark" is a great song.

"Baby shark" grew out of a campfire song, popular amongst the young people of Korea. The original writers have been lost to time, we do know that versions of the song were around in the late 20th century. Alemuel had a decent hit in 2007 with "Kleiner Hai", a German-language tale of a small shark that grew up and ate a diver. Other translations were made and released in the following years.

Back in Seoul, SmartStudy was founded in 2010. The media company released classic nursery and playground songs from their culture, crafts, puppet videos, and a collection of animations for children. With a pink fox mascot, the Pinkfong brand of animations and phone apps was successful in south-east Asia.

And then the Pinkfong company recorded "Baby Shark". It was successful in the original version, and a "dance version" of the video turned into a phenomenal success, the original clip has been seen an average of one-and-a-half times by every person on the planet.

"Baby shark" is remarkable in many other ways. For instance, it uses a tremendously restricted vocabulary. Eighteen words would be an unremarkable clause in a Lorde song, or a short album title for Fiona Apple. "Baby shark" uses precisely 18 words. Total. Across the entire song, just 18 words.

The song is written in G-major, with a change to C-major for the final stanza - two of the most common musical keys in pop music. To sing "Baby shark", you need a range of just half an octave, so even the worst voice can sing it reasonably (compare with other well-known tunes with minimal range: "Too many broken hearts", "G'd save the queen").

Lyrically, the song tells a story and circles back upon itself: it introduces the participants, encourages us care about them, takes them on a literal journey, and resolves it, imploring us to set out again.

Whether we like it or not, "Baby shark" has become an absolute staple of the pop charts. It's in the top 60 most-streamed music tracks almost every week of the year, and has gone from utter obscurity to something everyone knows.

"Baby shark" is the biggest cultural moment of the past ten years, and fully deserving a nomination for the century's Best 50 Songs. (But just the one.)

[weaversweek]

"Vampire" and "No degree of separation"

Another pair into the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

Vampire - Olivia Rodrigo

The greatest singer-songwriter we've found so far this decade, Olivia Rodrigo rose to fame through the Disney Channel. Remember the Disney Channel? It was very decent - well-written sitcoms, acted by great talent. "Bizaardvark" gave Olivia a break, "High School Musical The Series" gave fame.

"Driver's license" was a stone-cold heartbreak song for the dark days of early 2021. "Good 4 u" was full of outdoors excitement, and the album "Sour" held together well. What's Olivia going to do for the second album, "Guts"? Take "Driver's license" and make it nastier.

"Vampire" follows the same aural template as "Driver's license" - it's a melancholic piano ballad, sung in a musical theatre style so we have to hear the words. But rather than stalk him, Olivia takes control of her life, mercilessly disassembling his older ex's manipulative behaviour. Olivia's anger and exhaustion rises through the song, reaching a crescendo of fury as she spits out the title line.

Sounds like nothing else around right now, and all the better for it. Written by Olivia and producer Dan Nigro, it's song of the year, quite clearly.

No degree of separation - Francesca Michielin

Honouring the intention of sponsor Arron, I've limited myself to five songs from Eurovision Song Contests; two very easy picks from Junior, three from Senior. And with two SESC coming through from last year's Uncool50, there's just one place for another song. "Hard rock hallelujah", "Taken by a stranger", "Molitva", "Rhythm inside", "Arcade" - all were inflection points in the journey of European pop, all were worthy of a nod.

But the place goes to "No degree of separation", written by Fabio Gargiulo, Cheope, Norma Jean Martine, Federica Abbate, and Francesca Michielin. The song finished second in San Remo 2016, and with the winner deciding not to perform in Eurovision, the spot was given to the runner-up.

This is a slow-burn love song, Francesca sings of a deep emotional connection that has crept up on her. "È la prima volta che mi capita / Prima mi chiudevo in una scatola (It's the first time it’s happened to me / Before I just used to shut myself in). The second chorus dips into English, to convey the message even more clearly.

The best thing about "Nessun grado di separazione" is Francesca's voice! A beautiful tone, conveys everything she wants to say almost before she's enunciated the lyric.

It's a beautiful song, perhaps too beautiful for the big loud Eurovision Song Contest (see also: "Perta", "Amnesia", "This is my life"). Following this number 1 single in Italy, Francesca's continued to record albums, and returned to X Factor Italia to work with 2020 winner Måneskin.

[weaversweek]

"Bad romance" and "Royals"

We're nearing the end of the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

Bad romance - Lady Gaga

Which Lady Gaga song to pick? And do we consider the video when making the decision: if so, then "Telephone" is going to be a very strong contender, even though the song is far from her best. Gaga's songs fall into three camps - in-yer-face statements like "Born this way", powerhouse vocals like "Shallow", and artpop.

We wouldn't know Gaga if she hadn't done artpop, and the best example is "Bad romance". Released in late 2009, Gaga was adventurous, playful, and had a strong message to sell. Like the rest of "The Fame" album, it's a commentary on the aughts decade: obsessed with popularity and celebrity, hedonistic and flashing a lot of skin.

And, yes, we're influenced by the video. Alexander McQueen sent in the costumes worn by Gaga and her dancers, not the sort of thing you'll see on sale at Primark on Wednesday week. Full of white latex, orbiting rings, a chandelier top, the clip shows Gaga as a pawn for sale, an amusement for rich men.

Shorn of the video, "Bad romance" still works. It's a throwback to early 90s eurodance, all hooks and a soaring chorus. The "woah-oh-oh-oh" at the front was how Gaga started work on the song, finished with producer RedOne. There are little musical mutations throughout, cadences rise and fall on their own accord, and the home key (A-flat minor) is rarely visited. And that's just one reason "Bad romance" still sounds awesome.

In the years since, Gaga swore her love for queers on "Born This Way", made "Artpop", worked with Tony Bennett on "Cheek to cheek", and acted in "American Horror Story" and "A Star is Born". For the last of these, Gaga won an Oscar for "Shallow" - and that very nearly made my 50.

Royals - Lorde

Writing from the heart, Lorde penned "Royals" in less than an hour. The song reads like a teenage diary, frustrated and irritated and aspiring for her better world. The song contrasts Lorde's humdrum suburban life to those of the stars and celebrities.

"What really got me is this ridiculous, unrelatable, unattainable opulence. Lana Del Rey is always singing about being in the Hamptons or driving her Bugatti Veyron or whatever, and at the time, me and my friends were at some house party worrying how to get home because we couldn't afford a cab. This is our reality! If I write songs about anything else then I'm not writing anything that's real."

"Royals" has a sense of place, it comes from being on the fringes of the dominant culture. It's a song from Aotearoa, it could be a song from Newfoundland or Derry. We see the materialist stuff, we're exposed to celebrity, and - through an accident of geography - we can never join it. Lorde advances the conversation started by Lady Gaga.

Lorde has proven more than this one hit, releasing the album "Melodrama" and pro-Antarctic book "Going South". I seriously considered "Solar Power"'s single "Secrets from a girl (who's seen it all)" for the Top 50, losing out for variety.

[weaversweek]

"Falling" and "Not my soul"

Two more entries into the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

Fallin' - Alicia Keys

"Fallin'" landed in the early days of autumn 2001, when we were all dazed and punchdrunk from the news. It's a straightforward relationship song, the love and the distance, the closeness and the moments when you just can't stand them.

There's gospel, there's a slow-building crescendo, there's a subtle sample from James Brown somewhere in the mix. And it's a great showcase for Alicia's skills - as pianist, singer, songwriter, producer. "The gospel fervour of lovesick righteousness", according to Entertainment Weakly. "Deep moments that come up and grab you", wrote the NME.

The album "Songs in A Minor" is almost flawless, follow-up "The Diary of Alicia Keys" might be even better. Alicia's continued to record and make great music; "Girl on fire" and "Underdog" exemplify her work in the subsequent decades.

Not my soul - Destiny Chukenyere

"Being in English, this song could fit straight onto a UK radio playlist. Being utterly brilliant, it won't."

Inspired by Beyoncé and Aretha Franklin, Destiny came up through Malta's many stage schools and young theatrical scene. With Matt Mercieca and Elton Zarb, she wrote a Motown throwback of extreme quality.

That voice! That quality! That presence! The song is simple enough to cut across language barriers - "they can take away good stuff, but they won't change me". Destiny owns the song every time she sings it. Inevitably, the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2015.

Destiny didn't rest on her laurels; between finishing her school exams, Destiny made the semi-finals of ITV's Got Talent, and appeared in the Senior Eurovision Song Contest in 2021; "Je me casse" was slightly stitched up by the producers.

After Eurovision '21, Destiny stepped back from showbiz to concentrate on her studies, which is perfectly understandable. We hope there is more to come from this talented young lady.

[weaversweek]

Taylor Swift, the "Anti-hero"

This is an extended write up for a 10-pointer in the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

The act with most singles sales hits during the 21st century is the Glee cast. The television show featured one-minute bursts of favourite pop songs, just right for viewers to download once, listen to a handful of times, and then forget. They amassed 148 hits in four years, perhaps they revived "Don't stop believing" for a new generation. Glee never crossed my mind, they went for quantity not quality.

Ed Sheeran is second on the list of most hits, he's appeared on 97 hit singles up to the end of September. His music has an audience, but that rarely includes me: "The a-team" was a striking debut statement, I cannot deny he has some very long-lived hits. "Sing" and "Castle on the hill" were the two on my very long list, and he doesn't make the top 50.

Third on the list of most hits is Taylor Swift, with 93 hit singles. A decade and a half into her career, we might expect Taylor to be resting on her laurels, touring a greatest hits album, or putting her feet up and drinking cocoa with her girlfriend. Not likely! Swift is a prolific musician - "Anti-hero" is from "Midnights", her fourth new studio album in three years, and it was released during a project to re-record five of her earlier albums.

"Anti-hero" is all about the insecurities that keep Taylor up, and the nightmares that wake her. She wants to be a good person, but has become convinced that her flaws will keep her from ever being one. A self-directed video extends the metaphor.

The song summarises Taylor's career in four minutes - the synthpop from "1989", coupled with the dense lyrics from "Folklore" / "Evermore", and the dark introspection from "Reputation", all presented with the effortless breeze of the early years.

Right now, everything Taylor Swift does turns to gold. A worldwide sellout tour, credited with kickstarting the hotels industry. Reclaiming her back catalogue from an abusive manager. Writing honest songs about crushes, exes, and everything in between.

This weekend, Swift released a documentary movie, which will go into the box office top ten at number 1, something Glee never managed. She's also turned her hand to acting - who can forget the "Cats" film, and she made a cameo in "Hannah Montana The Movie"...

[weaversweek]

"My star" and "IDGAF"

Another part of the #FearOfMu21c project, crowdsourcing the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here’s an index post.

My star - Brainstorm

The first of five songs from the Eurovison Song Contests; something like sixty songs come out every year, enough to fill three CDs, I make no apology for including five of the 650 songs from Eurovision - it could have been so many more.

"My star" is the oldest song in my 50, older than a few of the performers on the list. It was first presented at the end of February 2000 in LTV's selection show Eirodziemsa. It's a post-grunge song, offers cautious optimism for the future while being honest that life can be a bit shit.

Renars Kaupers, the singer and songwriter, is an affable and geeky chap. Made a connection through the screen, enough to have the song rise to an unexpected third place, and got a small release over here a month or so later.

Like the best songs, it has made itself at home in my brain, the gentle lifts, the possibilities never get tempered by too much optimism, so I associate it as a song of the realistic. Brainstorm continue to record - Prata Vetra in their home language.

IDGAF - Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa gave me difficulty. Which is the best track to summarise her career? Dua has cornered the market in disco pop, with any number of songs to soundtrack the last few years.

In the event, "Idgaf" continues to be the strongest point in Dua's catalogue. It's a song about your own personal contradictions and battles, and how they can leave you stronger.

It's a breakup song, it's an empowerment anthem. You speak, I don't have to listen. It's a song about how you're never alone with friends: Dua stands with a phalanx standing in fierce solidarity.

The song was originally written by MNEK, re-written by Dua Lipa, with input from Larzz Principato,Skyler Stonestreet, and Whiskey Water. Lots of songwriters is a hallmark of modern pop; when the result's as sharp and incisive as this, I don't give a fig.

[weaversweek]

Fear of Music: "Take me (to church|out)"

Part of the #FearOfMu21c project, for the greatest singles of the 21st century. Here's an index post.

"Take me to church" - Hozier

Earnest and serious, Hozier's big breakthrough came with this masterpiece from late 2013.

Our interlocutor talks about love, using the language of catholicism. "Worship like a dog in the shrine of your lies" is such an evocative phrase, and the closing motif "a-men a-men" rams the point home.

It's a song about human sexuality, and those who would pretend it's somehow sinful. File alongside "Hallelujah", file alongside "Je t'aime… moi non plus". It's a political song. Of course it is, all good art is political; the mere act of living is political.

"Take me to church" has had a massive cultural impact. Hozier's become a hero in Ireland - "one of the nicest guys around" said disgraced Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy. The very pro-queer video was evoked on the Eurovision stage a few years later. This blog's friend @partywithponies made the song her very own.

Hozier has ridden on the song's coat-tails in the decade since; it's his pension plan, it's going to be played from here to the heat death of the universe.

Too many blokes think that the key to success is to over-emote in a gravelly voice like Hozier does. None of them are right (glares hard at you, Lewis Capaldi). No, the key to success is to be honest, to say something worth hearing, to say something you believe.

"Take me out" - Franz Ferdinand

"Take me out" boasts the greatest opening minute of any song on this list. A low-pitched, menacing, guitar throb. Ominous, already we're bracing for bad news. Then in comes a low-pitched, growling Scottish voice.

"So if you're lonely," intones the voice: not quite monotonous, not quite singing. "I'm just a shot, then we can die," he continues. Not messing about, with a clear threat. "I know I won't be leaving here with you."

And then the drums kick in, the guitar turns into a perky rhythm, and the moment is broken. The song remains full of tension: Alex, the singer, is too frit to talk to his crush, and is challenging them to make the running and talk to him.

The 2004 song borrows its metaphor from "Enemy at the Gates", a film about Russian and German snipers trying to eliminate each other during the Stalingrad battle.

Jonas Odell's video married live-action footage of the band with animated drawings - it's not dissimilar to the state of the art video from about 1988.

[weaversweek]

"Chewing gum" "On your head"

Two more delights from my greatest singles of the 21st century.

"Chewing gum" - Annie

The internet revolutionised how we discovered music. John Sakamoto's Anti-Hit List was a reliable source of great new music, expertly curated by a reliable tastemaker, put out of business when the Toronto Star made cuts in 2009. Record of the Day - and its predecessor The Tip Sheet - explain what the music industry want to push. There are interesting public radio stations WFUV and KCRW, more recently CBC Music and NPO 3fm.

But nothing beats the personal recommendation, the post written by a fan who loves what they're hearing. A long-lost Scandipop blog tipped us off about this one, and I'm really glad they did.

Back to 2004, when electro-pop was at its most thrilling. Richard X from Xenomania wrote a confident, swaggering pop tune, sung by Annie about her many useless exes. The chorus line gets stuck in one's head: "you think you're chocolate but you're chewing gum", a diss to anyone. The album, Anniemal, had spectacular follow-up "Heartbeat", and 1999's "The greatest hit".

In my personal top ten of the decade, but (sigh) the top five only allows five entries, and this doesn't quite get the bonus mark. Video is from T4's Popworld, which was another fine way to discover great music.

"On your head" - Tiffany Page

Grunge never quite died, it just came back in unexpected ways. Tiffany Page was brought up on a diet of country music and Hole; her songs combine the best of both genres, relentless and verbose.

"On your head" came out in early summer 2010, and made it to Radio 1's B-list. Her vocals were compared to Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders - soulful, smoky, sultry. Not that this made it a hit - into the top 40 at number 102, and straight out again.

And that's a desperate shame. Tiffany writes and sings and tells a whole story in the four minutes: the subject is near the end of his tether, confused and spiralling. Tiffany's song structure portrays this unsettled world in repeated phrases, culminating in a request for mercy.

The album "Walk Away Slow" appeared on Spotify a few years back. I fear that Tiffany had stopped making music by then.

[weaversweek]

11 points to "The middle"

I rung in new year 2002 in Tucson with Helena and our way-cool friend chelle. One of chelle's passions of that moment was Jimmy Eat World, and "The middle" was the current single. Two decades later, it remains a little callback to a dark place in my life, and the goodness and light around us.

Jimmy Eat World, who write their own songs, have become the great survivors of aughts emo. It's introspective and heartfelt rock music, and it connected with people. And it was an introduction to a band who have always been honest to themselves, perhaps an inspiration to be honest to ourselves.