Beverley Knight – Not Too Late For Love
The chorus to this song is gorgeous and the song is nice enough overall but the verses lack the top secret ingredient needed for a big hit ballad. It should do reasonably well as it’ll sound good on the radio and it’s a nice “love can save us” sentiment. The video has a few different scenes, one with Bev sitting on some steps, then she’s lying in some hay in a skimpy dress (why??) and then she is in a busy town on a windy day with lots of people rushing around, perhaps to illustrate the world going crazy, as the song says. I want it to do well cos the chorus is so ace and I really like Beverley, plus Keep This Fire Burning really must be released.
78% Poptastic!
Razorlight – Vice
If I heard this song and didn’t know who it was I’d never guess it was Razorlight – the singer, who I believe is called Johnny, sounds oddly like Justin Hawkins. Golden Touch was alright as far as indie goes but this is totally rubbish. The trick to making a good indie single is being as pop as you possibly can whilst still being cool enough to appear in NME, yet Vice proves that Razorlight have not yet realised this. The video is mainly Mr Razorlight in a telephone box singing this rubbish song as random people walk past. In the phone box are lots of flyers including one for a gig by the band and when they focus on the photo of the band on the flyer you can see them playing Vice – just like in Harry Potter!
26% Poptastic!
VS – Make It Hot
I started out hating VS due to the undeniably terrible Love You Like Mad, but then their second single Call U Sexy turned out to be rather good. Sadly this is just a typical, boring r’n’b song which I can’t imagine being a big hit, which is a shame since I’d like to hear this planned 4th single that is earning so much praise. The video is quite cheap-looking as it’s just them having a party in some wilderness type of place with a few extra dancers, but there’s something about them that seems a little more polished. It’s probably just that they’re a bit more experienced now and don’t look half as amateurish as in their first video.
53% Poptastic!
Brandy – Afrodisiac
I know from experience (ie. her previous album) that Brandy is best in small doses, so I am quite enjoying this on first listen. It’s an unusual song and nicely Kanye-free. The video is quite simple with no storyline (remindsm e slightly of Thank You by Jamelia) but I love how it jerks from one scene to the next as the song makes a sort of jerking sound. It’s much classier than the almost aggressive r’n’b that’s around right now, and just about the only type r’n’b I’d voluntarily listen to.
70% Poptastic!