Album Assessment: Simon Curtis ~ 8 Bit Heart

Download: Simon Curtis - 8 Bit Heart (by following twitter for link)
Official website: With all lyrics and download information
Facebook: Simon Curtis official facebook page
Reviews:

• Read Bill's review here
• Read MuuMuse's review here
• Read JonAli's review here
• Shine On Media review here
• Music Fascination review here
• Fresh Yeah review here
• Hotter in Hollywood article
• Exceptional review at Story of One Year
• Popreviewsnow gets all technical!

I'm completely aware that my taste in pop is often out of sync with current tastes. Often hugely popular acts pass me by while I fall irrevocably in love with acts that I know probably won't make it, but i adore for the short period they shine any way. And then there's Simon Curtis. Since 2006, I've been slightly obsessed with the music of young Mr Curtis and for once, I felt like I was waiting for the world to catch up. Alter Boy contained (and still does) a stunning set of pop tunes that ranged from avant garde to darkly yet deliciously malevolent - always with a focus on what makes a song soar. The fun Nickelodeon movie Spectacular bought a more teen-centric set of tunes to the masses and allowed Simon's vocals to shine in a way that pre-dated Glee by a good 5 months. And now as 2010 starts to blossom, it feels like the wait has been worth while. Simon has earned his Lord Gaga rising tag and people can't help but take notice.

And thus, 8 Bit Heart is launched onto an eagerly waiting, ever increasing army of fans. This a true viral launch of smart, intense, catchy boy-pop in the purest form. By retaining control and doing everything himself (ably produced by long time collaborator Jadion), there's no compromise in quality and for those lovers of Alter Boy, you are not going to be disappointed.

First up is the album cover itself - i love how Simon's white t-shirt blends into the background so his 'human features' stand out above all else; with the broken 8 bit heart bleeding black goo from being broken and abused. It's a stark visual image that not only is memorable but thematically linked to what you are about to hear. Plus, Simon looks great - love the glasses...

8BitHeart is a journey taken from the view of Boy Robot, who is introduced in the track of the same name opening up the album. It's about seeking love, for love makes someone whole - and though it's insanely confusing and infuriating, the theme is finding love (and being loved in return) should be the simplest thing in the world. And herein lies the concept of the album - excellent sci-fi has always been successful because it is inherently based on themes that we can recognise among the fantastical. Lord of the Rings wouldn't have struck millions of people had there not been love, loyalty, betrayal and redemption. Ditto Harry Potter. Even A.I. had dominant themes of wanting to belong, and those are echoed in our very own Boy Robot. Simon weaves elements of sci-fi and computer games into his songs, but at the heart are very human emotions and once you are done marveling at the clever way the album is constructed, this is what will keep you coming back for more.

The quest commences on Don't Wanna Be Alone - a sentiment anyone can share. Built around a rising and falling 5 note fuzzy synth riff, percussive beats begin to explode like fireworks and Simon delivers a raw effective vocal. Instantly, the references to the 8 Bit Heart and computer games are there in the opening lyric ""They say that love is a game only played by the dumbest of fools/ that the feeling's elusive, and what can you do with a ruse?" ~ double meanings abound, as logic would be bound by the rules of a game even in love and looking at it from this point of view means taking risks to find the one who can make your life meaningful. But if it's a game that only fools play, they are sucked into a world of cheating and rule breaking that becomes the 'ruse'... It's not just the lyrics that make the song work - the sparse percussion pervades the tune and gives an almost bleak atmospheric vibe that often matches the search for love. I live for clever stuff like this, not just because it sounds great, but because it makes me feel smart - like when I work something out on Lost...

Taking risks is what happens on Fell In Love W/ An Android - there is a brilliant opening line "I am Simon Curtis - Human Cyborg Relations" which makes me think this guy was made for a job on V (if ABC ever bring it back). Bleeps, beeps and beats abound as he berates himself for falling for someone that is shut off, cold, emotionless and detached. Within the concept of the album, this is represented through lyrics such "playing games with a toy that played me" and "Try to play it like you think you're something so hot, hate to say it but I'd rather fuck a robot". Oh my. I can absolutely see something amazing being done visually with a video or with a live tour version of this song ~ the possibilities are endless and mindboggling (and make me yearn for an 8 Bit Heart arena tour in the UK. If I win the lottery, I'll definitely sponsor it). There are further references to people masquerading as human in the middle 8 when he references Cylons, those earth invaders from Battlestar Galactica. It's a great chorus though and some of the smart digs that are ever present on Alter Boy are coming through loud and clear here. One things for sure - don't piss this boy off, he's like an electro-pop Jagged Little Pill.

One of my favourites is up next and leads a trio of utterly amazing pop tunes. Now when I say amazing, I'm talking just ridiculously ace because even Simon dialling it in is most likely better than most pop out there. Super Psycho Love is an intense exploration of the madness that can come with a surge of feelings for someone. More clever lyrics ("lit the fuse and missed the candle") and a persistant beat make this fun, but the middle 8 is like running through a fun house of mirrors - it throws in some great sound effects that feel like the world is the famous Scream painting. The vocal goes flawlessly to and from falsetto in the chorus and the beat never lets up until the last note. It's a heady ride and one that you will want to take over and over again. Like the characters in the song, you are ensnared in the grip and nothing lets up - it's intoxicating. In fact the only thing that gets me moving on is knowing that A Very Special Pop Moment is next...

The title track is one of the most sublime and gorgeous pieces of pop music I've heard in a long time. It's joyously simplistic with a truly impassioned vocal, finger clicks and the most heavenly chorus you will hear this year. Some songs are so imbued with the feel good factor that they are destined to become anthemic as their message spreads both far and wide. Built around the refrain of "is it so so wrong to love and be loved in return?", the chorus has some delicious multilayered harmonies running throughout and the fingerclicking makes it feel like an updated 50s doo-wop ballad. The song hits proportions of amazingness at just after 2 minutes when a shuffling beat kicks in and Simon's vocals soar into falsetto in a moment that just sends shivers down your spine, before it's all reined in and a gentle piano riff leads you out of the ecstasy you have just experienced. It's possibly the best solo boyband song I've ever heard and one that X Factor vocal groups will be all over in years to come. Conceptually, it fits after the adventures of the past few songs - things haven't gone well on the journey for love and the 8 Bit heart is left wanting and wondering whether the human activity of love is worthy of all this effort.

The trifecta of perfect pop is rounded off with the excellent Diablo. Something about this song screams worldwide smash to me. It has elements of Britney, Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys, Darin, swedish pop and an insanely catchy chorus that most pop princes would die for. Definitely the most "pure pop" moment on the album, it blisters in the sun with it's pop ferocity and like all enduring pop songs has a cheeky wink to it (quoting kelly clarkson and having an element of Womaniser about it) as well as a smidgeon of novelty (I double dog dare you not to sing along with "you're the devil you're a filthy piece of trash/gonna brush you off my shoulder gonna let you kiss my ass/a diablo a diablo a diablo"), it's nigh on impossible). Again, it's another Electro Little Pill moment, but so delightfully backhanded with it too - "oh and now i really want to see you get help/i really want to see you get over yourself" is a lovely kiss you then slap you moment, all dressed up in the best male pop production I've heard in a long time. And you know Simon's totally on the right page with trailblazing this - the new Sergey single Alarm is an inferior (albeit mildly enjoyable) carbon copy of this type of tune. There's then a brief intermission while Simon says "su-hweeeeet" in an elevator, a word I don't really get probaby because I'm aging and then it's onto the next tune....

Delusional was the first free download that launched the album and a song that Simon's had around for about a year now. It's firmly in the club-pop territory and the middle 8 has an instrumental breakdown that is reminiscent of Janet Jackson circa Rhythm Nation 1814 era. Again this evokes imagery of a slick, perfectly timed dance routine that would be great in a video or on tour and is crying out for a raft of remixes to extend your pleasure that much longer. If you listen carefully to the chorus, you hear how dedicated the production values are - the beat merges seamlessly with the synths, while Simon multi-layers his own harmonies to give the sound a depth and urgency that matches the lyrics. It's a smashing pop tune, and so much better than some of the lazy efforts that stars who have so much more money spent on them. It's all in the details, people.

Joystick has grown on me exponentially in the couple of months I have had to listen to the album and it's an essential part of the story. It begins with some space invader type sound effects that then merge to become part of the song itself - a tale about about the woes of playing games with the fragility of someone's heart (linking back to the 'ruse' lyrics in Don't Wanna Be Alone). It has a deliciously filthy double entendre (or maybe it's just the single entendre and I'm reading too much into it?!) as Simon sings "baby, grab a-hold of the joystick/take control of the motion/I can feel it when you..." The dot dot dot leads into the sweatiest heavy panting since Shakira's She Wolf and you just know that the 8BitHeart is firing synapses around the pleasure principle of the body! Brilliantly, the lyrics carry on to go through a virtual encyclopedia of game consoles and link them to the state of the relationship. AS the song progresses, it's almost like the giant climax to an electrorgasm and the most evocative pop since Je T'Aime...

Amid the breakneck beats of Beat Drop there is a rather wonderful operatic sample that runs throughout, and contrasts nicely with the intensity of the tune. It's riddled with numeric references (all prime numbers; oh except 4 of course:P), which I love in pop tunes - I'm all curious to know what the 7 kinds of naughty are when the beat drops, and it's the most titillating reference since Prince confirmed there are 21 positions in a one night stand (I only know 15!)Love Simon using the lower register of his vocal range in the verses - it plays as well as Janet in Love Will Never Do Without You doing 2 types of vocal which almost make it sound like a duet. The Boy Robot is definitely discovering the power of dance in the art of seduction and even references Bad Romance at the end of the second verse.

It segues nicely into Brainwash (written by the lovely Rochella Danishei - formerly of Candy Coated Chaos, now brilliantly solo) which begins with a talky sample - something Simon has always been fond of and used to great effect on his Alter Boy collection of tunes. This song deals with the allure and seduction of the fame game and how it can completely overtake everything you believe in. There's a hypnotic quality to the beat which works nicely with the title of tune, and the middle 8 has an impassioned vocal by Simon which allows for a very brief moment of wistfulness before he's swept up by the bright lights again. Of course, it possibly has another meaning too, knowing Simon's love of Lady Gaga - perhaps it's another The Fame he's captivated by and detailing a very different type of love, where the Boy Robot is intruiged by obsession and hero worship of unobtainable idols. Either way, it's an intruiging development in the journey...

And as the journey continues towards it's (temporary?) conclusion, something quite stunning happens. Simon ups the game on The Dark. It's a number of "suites" all mixed into one tune (think back to how Biology by Girls Aloud is constructed) and it feels like several songs into one, but it works marvelously. It begins with an instrumental score that feels filmatic in production before a shuffling beat introduces Simon and a delicious mid-tempo verse, 54 seconds sees another change as a spoken-rap fuses into the incredibly sweet sounding chorus at 1m08s. The theme is all about not being able to see, being blinded by love - and just when the song has undergone all the twists and turns musically that you would excpect in a relationship, there's a blistering rap in the middle courtesy of none other than Jay-Z. Blimey! It takes the album to yet another high just as it draws to a conclusion and gives us a complex, rewarding song that keeps giving with each multiple listen...

And then it's all over :( The coda to Boy Robot is Victory. The journey has bought us (and the Boy Robot) some valuable lessons. I won't spoil the ending here, but it's sad but optimistic - as most great sci-fi and fantasy adventures are. It's really the most amazing accomplishment and one that should gain Simon an increasing army of admirers. People need to sit up and take notice because Simon not only delivers musically, but creates a themed album that is a real delight from finish to end...
My suggested singles: Delusional, Diablo, Super Psycho Love, Joystick, 8 Bit Heart

Previous Simon Curtis articles on fizzypop - click here (there's a lot!)