New Pop on the Block

Olly Murs – Thinking Of Me (Watch)
Having come 2nd in X Factor and achieved a no.1 with his debut single, Olly Murs is probably feeling quite confident about his pop career right now. Little does he know how near it is to its end. I actually quite like Thinking Of Me (nb: I have an abnormal obsession with cheesy reggae-pop) but it just smacks of follow-up flop, especially as they’ve chosen a really tough time of year to release it. Not only does it sound completely out of season (even I don’t tend to listen to reggae-pop in Winter), but it’s also competing against pop heavyweights like Take That, JLS and this year’s X Factor finalists. I expect the song will make it into the top ten (just) based on his strong fanbase, but the second single is the chance to show how you mean to go on and releasing a song that 80% of the people who hear it won’t even realise isn’t Please Don’t Let Me Go is probably not a good start.
72% Poptastic!

Beatbullyz – Pieces (Watch)
I have been enjoying this fantastic urban pop ballad for a few months now so I was delighted to find out that it will be Beatbullyz’ new single. I don’t have high expectations of it achieving its deserved success as the group haven’t had much support from Planet Pop’s opinion leaders so far, but at least now it can earn its rightful place in my Top of the Poptastic chart. It is a shame that this song with such potential to be a classic is accompanied by a video which, although very informative, looks like something I could have made at age 12. At least they could have gone for a montage of nice moments like 5ive did with their similar-sounding Closer To Me (which also happens to be my fave 5ive song). I guess Beatbullyz have to keep up their laddish image so they can’t get too soft, but Pieces is a lovely mushy ballad which, like all their best songs, would be far better suited to a nice boyband. Wanna submit a song for The Wanted, guys?
92% Poptastic!

Patrick Wolf – Time of My Life (Listen)
It took me a few listens to get into but I’m now fully on board with Patrick’s majestic new single. His poptasticness peaked with 3rd album The Magic Position but difficult times in his life meant his fourth was much darker and he unfortunately didn’t bother to put any hooks in the songs. Luckily he’s realised his mistake (or needs to earn some money – one of the two) and his forthcoming fifth album promises to be a much more enjoyable affair. I wrote an excited post about one of the tracks called Wild Life about a year ago, and although Time of My Life isn’t quite as amazing as that, it’s nonetheless back to the level of quality pop that The Magic Position album provided. I could actually imagine Time of My Life being a chart hit if someone with a more conventional voice sang it, although I do feel that the chorus could be a little stronger to live up to the quality of the verses.
80% Poptastic!