It always happens when you are least expecting it, doesn't it? A surprising new male pop star flings himself with gay abandon onto the sparkling music scene you love, taking you unawares from behind with pulsating, throbbing electro-dance realness. This year that artist is Kim Smith who has just unleashed the beast that is his debut album Nova onto the world (and doesn't he look just dandy in a bowtie :D) It's a collection of scintillating dance-pop tunes that whilst have a very cool electro edge to them also embrace the theatrical side of the stage loving Mr Smith, giving the tunes heart, depth, emotion and soul. There are also knowing nods to the pioneering pop stars of the 80s whose enduring careers have paved the way for visually arresting, aurally stimulating acts like Kim - elements of Madonna, Depeche Mode, Human League, Pet Shop Boys & more permeate the album but never threaten to overshadow the fella himself. The album's opening track, Radio, is a terrific example of this - and as it should be. An opening track on the album is a definitive statement that introduces the listener to the experience they are about to immerse themselves into. Radio sounds like the long lost sibling of Madonna's Holiday & as such provides an effervescent introduction to the work of Mr Smith. Despite the percolating synth driven, bouncy pop setting in which the song lives, the lyrics are full of dark thoughts and obsessive tendencies. So while the listener is exploring the seedier side of disco, they are doing so with a spring in their step and a shimmy in their bottom. Many artists have perfected their own take on uptempo, downbeat songs and it's nice to see Kim take this forward in his own stylistic way. Next up is Never Ever, which details how the protagonist of the tune used to be a bit of a cad, running around town, breaking hearts just to get a bit of booty action. Oh don't act so judgemental - we've all had our wild ways in our youth. I mean even I once kissed a girl (I didn't like it)! But back to the song - part of what makes it work are the way the lyrics tap into those emotions that are felt when an all encompassing love hits out of nowhere. You can't plan for it and you're usually not prepared for it, and all of a sudden your life - and you - are completely different. Weaving these thoughts & observations into the canny lyrical hook of "never ever" gives the song a refrain that places it firmly in the pop world (and ensuring it embeds firmly into your brain, causing you to sing along before the first play is even finished. Now that's catchy)!
Kim's debut single Jealous is quick to follow. Well, it's less of a debut single and more of a pronounced statement of "Here I am world, come and get me" - were he not so visually creative, aurally engaging and lyrically lascivious it wouldn't have worked. Set to a pulsating, mesmerising fuzzy synth beat, Kim sings of his obsession with a certain fella and how he cannot stand to see him with any other. It's appropriately dark in tone & musical vibe because that's the nature of jealousy and the hypnotic rhythmic nature of the tune more than conveys the unrelenting, all consuming ways of the green eyed monster. The chorus unleashes holy hell onto the world with the beat launching into an invigorating cantor and Kim's lovely resonant voice giving a beguiling performance that is hard to ignore. He pours emotion into the song, pulling the listener firmly into his world ensuring you thrust along with each sweaty beat, each lyrical confession that passes his lips. The song soon inveigles it's way into your head much like the conflicted thoughts that Kim narrates with mellifluous nuance. It's a standout vocal performance that is matched by an insistent groove. With Me All Along is one of those deliciously sad songs that taps into every emotion you've felt around a relationship yet somehow makes you feel better because now you are not so alone with your innermost thoughts. And this song is the perfect antidote - it's about the inability to escape those conflicted feelings yet it's Human League-beauty enables you to do just that. Not just a musician - Kim Smith, mental health pharmacist of the highest order! Shooting Stars is a lyrical triumph - it can be interpreted in so many ways: a song about inspiring, epic love; obsession with a popstar that spills over into the fantasy of the beholder; or just an anthemic call to arms when you are parted from family & friends. While there is no doubt that Mr Smith brings the lyrics and music of the album into vivid focus, it's a good opportunity to credit those who contributed to this sterling piece of work; Charlie Mason & The Crush Boys, Richard Autobahn, Richard Hymas, Erik Gold (and many more) providing such brilliant lyrics & melodies; Mans Ek giving it some world class production values; Liam Curry being as innovative as ever with the album cover design. It's musical collaborative alchemy at it's finest - and while all the songs showcase this, Shooting Star does it incredibly well...
Cheap is so brilliantly simple, so exquisitely beautiful, so plaintively heartfelt that it actually stops you in your tracks, leaving you just a little bit stunned and breathless. It's perhaps not the most obvious track to be a single on the album, but certainly deserves to singled out for such an honour. It's about wanting that connection with someone no matter how fleeting and as Kim sings there is a wistful pain in his voice as he seeks to have some 1 on 1 human emotion in his life. Surrounded by those pretty yet elegiac synths, his voice has never sounded more honest and intimate. It's a truly lovely sound to behold. Songs like Tarantula continue to explore the range of emotions in relationships - metaphorically comparing the pursuit of someone you know is a bit of a bounder to nature's most scary spider. What I love about songs like these (and it's moments like this that bring out the theatrical side of Kim that makes you imagine this as part of a bigger musical stage experience) is that it explores the morals of the lyrics, posing questions like "if you follow someone that is a bit of nob-end, isn't it your own fault for allowing yourself into that relationship?" (or something more artistically stated :D) Zombiez could easily be his next club-thumping single - not only does it have a clever hook to it, the alluring beats and monotone verses work incredibly well almost compelling you onto the dancefloor. There absolutely has to be a brilliant dance routine to this song that will be the key focus to an off-kilter video. It could be the sexiness that zombies need to make them as raucuously filthy as those True Blood vampires :P
The final trifecta of songs kicks off with the haunting, beautiful electro-goth ballad, Love Condensed. Set to a mid-tempo hypnotic synth riff, Kim's voice is the melodic guide for the song that reminds me of some of Erasure's finest downbeat moments (see Always, Am I Right and You Surround Me for starters). It's about the difference between those people who are completely open with their emotions & those who only embrace those who truly matter to them. It's full of dramatic musical denouements and a thoroughly engaging, gripping vocal from the ever reliable Mr Smith - who continues his delicate exploration into shimmering balladry with These Tiny Little Things. It's part Abba, part Freddie Mercury and all Kim David Smith. An open love letter to the memories of a relationship, it's intimate & insightful; elegant & amazing all at once. It's another song that has you running your own memories to the lyrics, giving your heart the tiniest ache of sadness - but within the sadness is the timelessness of those more favourable memories - and the indelible awe & wonder this heavenly song holds. Sheer wizardry. The album comes to a close with a return to the uptempo electro-disco of Disappearing. It brings the project full circle and shows what a versatile, eclectic artist Kim Smith actually is - providing soaring dance balanced with quieter introspection without skipping a beat. It's an album that deserves a much wider audience - and I have a sneaky suspicion that they may well just happen some time soon :) Glorious.
Top 21 songs of the week:
21 ~ Fifth Harmony, Miss Moving On (NE)
20 ~ Danny Saucedo, Todo El Mundo
19 ~ Delta Goodrem, Heart Hypnotic (NE)
18 ~ The Wanted, Walks Like Rihanna
17 ~ Auryn, Breathe Your Fire
16 ~ Chris Wallace, Invincible
15 ~ Army of Lovers ft Gravitonas, Signed On My Tattoo
14 ~ Bruno Mars, Treasuer
13 ~ Mariah Carey ft Miguel, Beautiful
12 ~ Anton Ewald, Can't Hold Back
11 ~ David Lindgren, Move That Thing
10 ~ Pink, truelove
09 ~ Mika, Live Your Life
08 ~ The Summer Set, Maybe Tonight
07 ~ Betty Who, Somebody Loves You
06 ~ MKTO, Thank You
05 ~ Agnetha Faltskog, The One Who Loves You Now
04 ~ Scarlett's Roses, Truth Be Told
03 ~ Eric Saade, Winning Ground
02 ~ Olly Murs, Dear Darlin'
01 ~ Ed Drewett, Undefeated (3 weeks)
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