Eric Saade - Sting

Buy Sting here (iTunes)

It's called Sting so bad it will drive you mad! Yessirree Bob (whatever that means), young pop sensation Eric Saade is back with a brand new single from his upcoming 5th (FIFTH!! Surely it was only yesterday Masquerade was released?) album (as yet untitled). Over the past four albums Eric has certainly proved his versatility as an artist, providing his ever burgeoning fanbase with straight up pop, club bangers, r'n'b grooves and sensitive ballads. And let's not forget this is the guy who boldly sang the best metaphor for botty love ("I'm riding in your backseat if you'll let me") since Rachel Stevens admitted "ooo I let you in my back door" on I Said Never Again. Sting marks a natural progression in the evolution of Eric Saade from teen idol to a genuine enduring artist with clear longevity in his future. Sting (already racing up the Swedish charts thanks to Eric's intoxicating performance of the song at this year's Melodifestivalen shows) is a percolating gem of a pop song that is a bit of an FU, a middle finger to the guy who dated Eric's girl before he got together with her. Essentially you get the impression guy number one didn't treat this hot mama very nicely so she (quite rightly) moved onto Eric who is spending his time bopping the night away with her and just living life to the very fullest. Over that simmering beat, insatiable horn section, convivial backing "heys" and funkalicious bass guitar, Eric sounds wickedly gleeful in his vocal delivery with that refrain worming it's way right into your brain and refusing to quit. All these elements fuse together brilliantly to craft a song that is instantly memorable and thoroughly enjoyable. A further marker of a great composition is to present the work in a different format and in the video above you can see Eric sing Sting in an acoustic setting. Set to just guitars, a sax and some wonderfully textured backing vocals this performance loses none of the charm of the original. In fact it accentuates the sheer joy within the song and becomes a handclapping, foot tapping anthem that effortlessly conveys the giddy passion you can see on Eric's face as he sings. His fans couldn't ask for a better song to come back with and it surely bodes well for his next album...

(Two additional points - Upgrade from his debut album is still a jam isn't it?! And Sting should definitely now record a song called Eric Saade)...