New Pop on the Block

Petter & September – Baksmälla (Listen)
Release schedules in Sweden are a bit like a lucky dip. New singles often seem to appear from nowhere and there tends to be little reasoning to their timing. For example, why do bands frequently release new singles at the same time as their Melodifestivalen entries will be released? It was only the other week I was introducing September’s comeback single, but after a well-received TV appearance where she covered a song by Swedish rapper Petter, with her version subsequently becoming a massive iTunes hit, she and Petter have gotten together and released a duet. You might expect such a hastily released cash-in duet to be rubbish, but although it’s obviously no patch on the phenomenal Rescuscitate Me, it’s actually quite enjoyable – certainly the best thing Petter (who is not exactly in the Swingfly league when it comes to Swedish rappers) has ever done and with more September and less Petter I would love it. Maybe soon the Swedish top 5 singles will be entirely made up of September songs!
73% Poptastic!

City Boy Soul ft. Mutya Buena – Be OK (Watch)
It’s amazing the things you can find just by surfing YouTube. I was skimming through the day’s most played music videos when there at number 166 was a new single by Mutya Buena! Considering how much nostalgia there is for Sugababes v1 (especially now v4 aren’t doing so well) you’d think I may have heard some mention of Mutya’s return, but no, not a peep! When I actually watched the video I got even more excited as the collaboration clearly came about over a leftover sandwich in the dumper, because one member of City Boy Soul is Coree from Damage! He’s getting on a bit now but still has a great voice, which blends nicely with Mutya’s. The song is unfortunately quite average (although far from terrible) and Mutya doesn’t make even so much as a cameo appearance in the video, but nonetheless it’s fun to see two pop hasbeens getting together to attempt a comeback. Vaguely interesting pop hasbeen fact: Coree is Anton from One True Voice’s cousin, which always confused me as he looks much more like Daniel from One True Voice.
38% Poptastic!