This weekend, tATu’s new album (not supposed to be released until October) leaked onto the internet. Being a lovely law-abiding citizen, I of course avoided it like the plague. Um, yeah right!! I downloaded it right away and here are my thoughts in track by track form…
1. Intro – Dangerous and Moving
The album begins as it means to go on – with urgent synths and loud electronic drums. Crash, bang, and we all remember why we love tATu!
2. All About Us
This is the first single from the album, so you’ve probably heard it by now. It has a very repetitive chorus, but the way each line is sung differently means it’s not boring. The verses each consist of a small number of lines sung one word at a time, which is an unusual style but tATu wouldn’t be themselves if they sounded normal, and it makes every word sound important. This song is definitely a grower. It deserves to be another no.1 hit.
3. Cosmos (Outer Space)
The song starts off very melancholy and I expect it to be slow, but soon the signature t.A.T.u drums join in and they are singing as fast and incomprehensibly as ever. As Edward pointed out in his own review, the lyrics are total nonsense, but with tATu it never matters what the words are, they have such a striking sound which makes up for any lack of lyrical genius. The nonsense adds to the whole tATu mystique, showing how different their world is to our normal, boring one.
4. Loves Me Not
The verses and chorus in this song are sharply contrasting, as is often the case with t.A.T.u. The verses are from a pretty, sad ballad. The chorus is an angsty, confused rock song. Combined together they shouldn’t work, but of course when t.A.T.u try it just adds to their mysterious Russian charm. The theme of sexual confusion returns in it’s most obvious form yet, with the chorus a mantra of “he loves me, he loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not”.
5. Friend Or Foe
For once the intro is not misleading – this is the catchiest, poppiest track they’ve done, with a wonderful chorus. It’s quite typical of current Europop, but when t.A.T.u do it, it’s anything but typical. This could be a huge hit.
6. Gomenasai
The first track in Russian of the album, you may think, but you’d be wrong. The title is actually Japanese for “sorry”. It begins as a ballad, but is it really one? Yes, it is! A very nice one too. Sad, of course, but very pretty.
7. Craving (I Only Want What I Can’t Have)
This is a beautiful ballad with a catchy rocky chorus. The verses are sung quite gently and high-pitched, portraying the girls as feeble and needy, then the chorus creates a brilliant contrast with it’s much more powerful strength. Another absolutely brilliant track.
8. Sacrifice
This track sounds most like the first t.A.T.u album, a deeply devoted love song with the girls’ trademark high-pitched Russian-accented vocals in the chorus. It is quite catchy after a few listens and definitely a grower for me.
9. We Shout
This track is less interesting and exciting than the others – it doesn’t really move me in the same way and is in fact quite boring. Maybe I will grow to like it more. You would expect a song about shotuing to have a little more energy.
10. Perfect Enemy
Another song that would fit well on t.A.T.u’s previous album. It’s not a favourite of mine but not as boring as We Shout. It’s just moody, bleepy and very t.A.Tu, but it does get better the more I listen.
11. Obizienka Nol
Is this actually in Russian? Yes, I do believe it is! Not knowng what they’re singing, I can’t comment on the lyrics, but the chorus is nicely dramatic and screechy with lots of strangely (although not strange for t.A.T.U) pitched long notes.
12. Dangerous and Moving
The title track, and also the final track, it begins the same as the intro but is a full-length, fabulous song. The chorus sounds similar to Not Gonna Get Us (although less manic) and has a similar theme of “us against them”. I don’t think I would pick this as a single, although I suspect they may, but it is a fairly good track.
So, that’s the lot! In conclusion, it’s certainly one of the best albums of the year so far and has made me much more of a t.A.T.u fan than I previously was. However, the first 7 tracks are far stronger and better than the last 5. The first 7 with the best 5 from the first album would make it perfect.