Morello
As far as I can tell, Morello is mainly a guy called Malcolm, and I have to say he’s the first cool Malcolm I’ve ever encountered. I was first intrigued by hearing he had a song called Exchange Student, since I am one at the moment, but I found the rest of the songs on his MySpace to be equally jolly. They sound a bit like Alphabeat, but more indie/home-made sounding and with added electro-soulfulness (his influences range from Stevie Wonder to Daft Punk). The songs are catchy and very cute. This is the kind of music that shows that pop is a sound and not just a status of popularity, because this music is quite sometimes obtuse sounding (many would find it annoying), but it is certainly poptastic. It also shows that a catchy melody and fun lyrics are much more important than a high-tech studio and big budget effects. Maybe one day Malcolm will go on to work with such things, but for now I’m enjoying the sweet and simple tunes he’s making without all that.
Hit Potential: 5% Poptasticness: 85%
Sophia Somajo
Sounding like Robyn but even more squeaky and a little more hip-hop, Sophia is still a surefire hit with me, and I suspect with you too. She’s friends on MySpace with Vincent and I think this is quite appropriate, as she could easily be called a female version of him, although when she’s being less hip-hop she sounds rather like Feist. Her song Stockholm Calling, which she released as the lead track of an EP in August, is really catchy and cool, but do her other tracks keep to the same standard? Well, from what I’ve heard so far they’re not far off, but Stockholm Calling is definitely the one to hear first. I love the way that Swedes mix American-influenced urban sounds with a more quirky style, making music which is much more consistently enjoyable than American r’n’b, where I find I enjoy many of the big hits but am sent to sleep by the rest.
Hit Potential: 15% Poptasticness: 75%