While whittling down my favourite albums and singles of the year, two new releases popped up on my mp3 player & I knew I just had to take a break from all the festive Christmas music I've been posting about and let you know why they are two supremely excellent collections that you absolutely must own. So grab yourself a glass of warm milk (ew), a giant chunky cookie and settle down for a jolly good read...
Eric Saade ~ Saade, Volume Two:
It's no secret that I'm a bit obsessed with Mr Saade. I find him one of the most exciting new pop prospects to emerge for some time. Add to that, the guy is a machine in terms of churning out quality pop, excellent stage performances and always looking immaculate. So it's onto his 3rd full length collection of tunes in just 18 months. Frankly, I'm not really done with Saade, Volume One just yet. I would have quite liked Made of Pop as a late summer single, followed by the bonkers but brilliant Killed By A Cop in October, & finally Stupid With You as a jingle bellsed remix for the Christmas market. But not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, bring on Volume 2 I say as it's jam packed with excellent pop and - combined with volume one - makes for one of the finest albums of 2011.
It all kicks off with Sky Falls Down (featuring Hearts In The Air collaborator J-Son) - it actually feels more like a J-Son song rather than an Eric number. It's a flowing, trance-dance, ibiza-esque number with a soaring chorus where Eric gets chance to shine. There are great use of synthesizer sounds throughout the track and the beat really is quite compulsive, so overall it's a more than decent way to kick off the album. It steps up a gear with the next track, Rocket Science, a collaboration with Salem Al Fakir. It initially blends quite well from the opening number, but then transforms into a retro sounding pop song & is an excellent merging of the two different styles of two different creative performers. Plus I'm a sucker for whoa whoa whoa ad-libs in a chorus. Of course, next track (Hotter Than Fire) stands out - partly from familiarity at this point and partly because it is one of the most insistent, amazing pop songs of the year. It still sounds great, has a ferocious beat and some tremendous vocals from Eric. Love is Calling could quite easily be the follow up single to Hotter Than Fire. It's something that wouldn't sound out of place if recorded by Kylie Minogue and certainly would light up many a gay hotspot dance floor this new year's eve. It's an out and out dance anthem with a 3 part chorus and a nifty refrain in "heartbeat back, bring my heartbeat back" that you'll find yourself singing at the most inadvertent of times.
Crashed On The Dancefloor is another solid sing a long track, but is followed by two stunning tracks that must be added to the "potential single" pile. Explosive Love is one of those tracks that mirrors the title of the song - there's a huge pulsating dance groove simmering impertinently in the background while Eric delivers a seductive vocal during the verses; this all then culminates in a convulsive, addictive chorus that just refuses to quite. utter magnificence. Backseat for me is sheer perfection. Each Eric album has a massive standout song - this is the It's Gonna Rain/Made of Pop of Saade Vol. 2. Eric goes a bit dubstep, says "swagger", has bass heavy verses before this hyper produced, manic, wall of sound layered chorus kicks in. Add to this the additional hook of "riding in my backseat - back back backseat" and the fact that it may be the most suggestive lyric since Rachel Stevens' 'I Said Never Again' and it's pure thriller from start to finish.
The album draws to a close with 3 final songs. Feel Alive is a modern, relevant dance number where Eric's voice really stands out above the production, beats and synths. It's also quite uplifting and feel good which is always a bonus. This is followed by the utterly bonkers but brilliant Fingerprints. It's quite unassuming to begin with but once that insanely alluring chorus kicks in with the novelty of "go-oh-oh=one" sweeping vocal, you'll be totally battered by beats into submission. So you'll need the lovely ballad of Without You I'm Nothing. I'm a sucker for a big romantic number and this rounds off the album in a blissful style.
Overall, a lovely companion album to Volume One with some massive pop moments going on. Eric continues to delight and impress.
Potential singles: Hotter Than Fire; Love Is Calling; Backseat; Explosive Love; Fingerprints
Adam Tyler ~ Shattered Ice:
I've somehow managed to completely miss the fact that Adam has had his debut album out now for a good 3-4 months. For shame on me. I have concocted an elaborate punishment for myself, which no doubt the sadistic side of me will quite enjoy should Adam ever chose to administer it :D But I digress... what i have missed for the past quarter of a year is a solid pop album with confident melodies, snappy & relevant production, memorable choruses and an endearing vocal style from young Adam himself. It all kicks off with Like A Drug, which not only acts as a strong opening number, but additionally sets out Adam's stall as a performer as it were. It's a stark, throbbing, electro-club killer that just wills you to pulsate along to it's mesmerising rhythms and beats. This segues seamlessly into Pull The Trigger, which marries the ambient rave grooves favoured by JLS and The Wanted on their hit singles this year (You Make Me Wanna; Glad You Came respectively) & adds a sonic, explosive chorus into the mix. It's clear on both these songs that Adam loves the pop music he sings and that he listens to - a theme that continues on Music Freak. It's a literal love letter to the world of music and all that it stands for; a tune that any pop afficianado will identify with & relate to :)
Two standout songs on the album are presented in full version and a more stripped back acoustic sound. First up with this is the gorgeous gothic ballad I Won't Let You Go. It's all plaintive vocal, lush piano melody and swirling strings before the tempo starts to increase & it becomes a full on dance ballad the likes of which haven't been seen since Girls Aloud's Untouchable. The more delicate piano only version is beautiful as a stark contrast to how a song can work in two very different styles - it's haunting and hypnotic & a little bit devastating. Similarly Forgive Me (which tells a brutally honest tale of all his own flaws and mistakes) works as both a funky Erasure-esque 80s number, with seductive synths and a dirty beat, but also excels as a guitar driven confessional that certainly wouldn't sound out of place on any CW show. Or performed by someone like Dashboard Confessional - it's that versatile.
Elsewhere, Emergency desperately needs to be a single. Cleverly built around a beat that instantly reminds of a life support machine crossed with the urgent whir of an ambulance siren, coupled with dramatic chords and a delicious, yearning chorus. There's also a stately, elegant orchestral version of the tune that brings the melody to the forefront and gives it an entirely different soundscape to work to. Finally, don't leave the album without paying attention to one of it's most "pure pop" moments - the title track, Shattered Ice. There's elements of Usher, David Guetta, Lady Gaga, but plenty of Adam to make the soaring layered chorus feel like it's totally his own. And, like the rest of the album, of course it is. An accomplished set of work by someone worth keeping an eye on...
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