Lesley Roy
A few years ago I was desperate for Max Martin to bring his ace new rock-pop sound to the UK by working with a UK artist. My best suggestion was Billie Piper – this kind of music would be a perfect comeback for Billie, and there were lots of great songs that hadn’t yet been hits in the UK that could be covered, such as 4ever, Tap That and Break You. It seems the closest we’re getting, apart from a few Dr Luke songs for the Sugababes, is this Irish singer, who I have to say I’m not impressed with at all. The emphasis is clearly on rock over pop, never a good choice. Max Martin better record some brilliant pop singles soon, or we might have a falling out. The best writer/producer in pop can definitely come up with better music than this very much by-numbers angst-rock – every song is OK but not a single one tempts me to listen to it again.
Hit potential: 34% Poptasticness: 57%
Luigi Masi
I’ve been hearing his name mentioned occasionally for about a year now, and her recently supported Girls Aloud on tour, but I’d never bothered to listen to any of his music or find out any more about him. Even if I had Googled him, I would have only found a load of message board hermits getting in a flap about him, which is always sure to put me right off a new act. However, I noticed he has been advertising himself on Facebook lately, so I had a listen and he’s not as bad as I expected. The style is electro-pop, but don’t expect fans of Daft Punk and Justice to be impressed – this is the Smash Hits Roadshow (if it still existed) equivalent of electro-pop. Still, I loved Smash Hits pop and this isn’t too bad at all – it probably has more commercial potential than Frankmusik. The problem is that the thing it reminds me of most is Phixx, and while I really enjoyed their first 2 singles, I don’t remember them being particularly successful. Despite all my negativity here, I will be keeping an eye on Luigi, as he may still come out with one amazing song – he just hasn’t yet.
Hit potential: 34% Poptasticness: 71%