TRIPPING

Robbie Williams

Considering how Guy Chambers was supposed to be the bloke behind Robbie Williams’s hit singles, the Williams could be better off without him if this is anything to go by. With Chambers, Robbie had only one really high quality single and it wasn’t Angels – it was Feel. Most of his other stuff was either jingly-jangly samey music or dull, plodding and boring ballads. Yes, even Angels. I know everyone else likes Angels, but I don’t and this is my column so what I say goes. Good job all this power hasn’t gone to my head. Since the Dream Songwriting Partnership TM parted ways, he’s brought out three new tracks. Radio, despite being utter rubbish, at least was totally different to anything else he’d done – which is a bit strange really, the song’s rubbish, but he’s trying new things so that means he’s willing to push himself creatively and that ends up being a good thing. Funny old world. Then there was Misunderstood, which was a step back towards the dark side (jangly guitars, harmonicas, funereal pace, just say no kids). This time round, things are different again. This time, it sounds as though he’s been listening to a lot of reggae because that’s the over-riding musical theme of the day here. It’s all easy going with the verses, and then he launches into the chorus and… well, the phrase that springs most readily to mind is “Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be Sting from when he was in The Police.” Add on another Robbie Rap halfway through and there you go. In fact, musically, this is one of his stronger songs (and I hate reggae music so that’s saying something) – I could actually remember how it went a few minutes after it finished, that never happened with dross like Eternity. He still needs to work on his lyrics though. The second verse is excellently written (all about gangsters – heavy stuff), but elsewhere things are still a bit vague – mind you, it’s light years ahead of the nonsense he was spouting on Radio. Do you know what, this year’s been chock full of artists who’ve suddenly become good or good again – if the album’s as encouraging as this, I may actually have to add Robbie Williams to that list.

ALL ABOUT US

t.A.T.u.

I still say they should’ve released How Soon Is Now. I have to admit, I’m slightly underwhelmed with this one, which is a shame really because the only thing that lets this song down is the chorus. Everything else is fine, it’s all dark, menacing, and says in a very low voice “We’re back sonny and don’t you forget it, now hand over your dinner money”. That’s great, it’s just what they needed to do. Trouble is, once the chorus starts the drums start crashing about and the two of them start singing together for the first time and oh dear, it sounds like somebody’s trying to replicate the chorus from All The Things She Said, right down to repeating several words over and over. Maybe the video will be enough to get them a good chart placing (the storyline being Lots Of Fun With Guns And Cars), but the song isn’t quite the statement of intent it should’ve been, I’m afraid. There’s an album on the way (you didn’t think this was a one-off, did you?) and hopefully it’ll show a bit more originality than this.

NINE MILLION BICYCLES

Katie Melua

I don’t really like this song. It’s slow, gentle and utterly unthreatening – usually, three things that would get a song severely slated in this column. However, there aren’t any other slow songs around that sound like this. For a start, everything has been put together with the intention of creating a good song instead of gaining a high chart position. It’s well-crafted, doesn’t go over the top and there’s not so much as a change of key at the end to build up to the big finish / fade-out. Most importantly, it’s sung brilliantly. The day that Katie Melua enrols at the Pop Idol School Of Singing will be a sad day indeed. As I said before, I’m not really into slowies, but I do admire the way this one’s been done and that’s probably as near as this’ll get.