Representing France: Herman Düne – I Wish That I Could See You Soon
If you’re a fan of Adam Green then you’ll love this. I didn’t guess that they were French, but now I know it does make sense. The video is supremely cute, colourful and ace and the song is very sweet. Coincidentally they have played as the backing band for Adam Green’s ex-bandmate Kimya Dawson, so I guess my comparison was quite apt. This song is released in the UK this week.
Representing the UK: Little Flames – Isobella
This Liverpool band’s sound is somewhere between the Long Blondes and Garbage, I think. It’s good but nothing on the best songs by either of those bands, or Low Happening by The Howling Bells, which it also made me think of. It’s better than most indie/rock but far from the best of the female-fronted examples. They’re friends of the Arctic Monkeys, but that link didn’t really get Milburn very far, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing Little Flames atop the charts any time soon, unless they pull out a really ace song for their next single.
Representing the USA: Hey Willpower – Hundredaire
Hey Willpower reminds me of Tiga in that he works with ace people, makes great vidoes, and does music I feel I should like, but there’s nothing standing out in it that makes me want to listen again, even once. I don’t dislike it at all but I want more. Still, it is one of the best videos around at the moment, so worth watching just for that, and those of you with more patience than me may be able to get into his music too.
Representing Sweden: Peter, Bjorn & John – Objects Of My Affection
I grew to love Young Folks, but this new single lacks its charming whistles or its catchy chorus. It retains the combination of quite depressing singing over jolly music, but it gets a bit drone-like in places. I doubt they’ll ever come up with something as ace as Young Folks, but I’m sure the indie types will continue to worship them anyway. The video looks cool and very well done, so they’re obviously going up in the world of music video budgets.