NATURE'S LAW

Embrace

When it comes to Embrace singles, I’ve found a general rule seems to apply. When they go for it and let rip, they’re good, but when they go for the slow-paced anthemic rock approach, it sounds a bit too meaningful and earnest and that sort of thing bores me stiff. This one’s fairly slow, but… I dunno, there’s just something different about it. Bear with me, I’m trying to work out what it is… that’s it! I’ve listened to it in full and not once did I feel the urge to destroy my stereo. Wow, that’s a massive improvement on All You Good Good People right there. The thing is, the song’s not really that much different to its predecessors, it’s all in the way the song’s been done. Add a little bit of echo and the song sounds a bit grander and has some room to spread itself out. A little bit of piano never hurt anyone, even if it does remind me a bit of Alone by forgotten big-haired eighties rockers Heart. Then chuck in some backing singers to make it sound like you’ve got a choir behind you. Finally, let the atmosphere gradually build up under its own steam. Now, if you do all that, you’ve got yourself that rarest of beasts, a radio-friendly Embrace single that’s actually not that bad. All this leaves me wondering if this is the best their new album will have to offer or if they’ve got even better stuff in reserve. Personally, I hope they have, and I have a sneaking feeling I could be proven right.

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE

Journey South

Not many bands are brave enough to name themselves after their expected career trajectory, so well done Journey South. Think that sounds harsh? Two words – Steve Brookstein. So, where do I start? It’s a Pop Idol Fame Academy X-Factor Opportunity Knocks act given a record contract – there’s a guarantee of long lasting success, just ask Alex Parks, Michelle, One True Voice… I could go on (why not? The shows do). It’s a cover version. What can I say? Once upon a time, if you wanted to be famous in the music industry you either wrote your own stuff or got somebody else to write a song for you. These days the preferred option seems to be to get someone else to write it, preferably about 20 years or so before the singer’s even born. Good heavens, am I sounding ever so slightly cynical here? I really must stop that. It’s difficult though, it really is, when we’ve got two singers here who sound no different to any other X-Factor contestants who can actually sing and therein lies the problem. Guitar pop’s all well and good, but there’s nothing here that really stands out, nothing that says “Put down that Chico single and buy ME”, well apart from the fact that it’s not by Chico. Maybe if they sounded like they actually had some sort of emotional connection with the song instead of making it sound like a singing exercise this would’ve worked better. Still, never mind, in a couple of months the focus will shift to another wannabe pop star so it won’t matter. This is not how pop music should work.

ALL SPARKS

Editors

This is much better. If you could somehow get Joy Division and Franz Ferdinand to write a song together, this is probably what they’d come up with. It moves along at a fair pace, but always gives the impression that it could pick up speed at any given moment and it sounds a bit like Joy Division’s Dead Souls to begin with (guitar playing along while the drummer hits everything two or three times more than he normally would) and the bass is fairly prominent too, but there’s an upbeat feel to this and that’s where the Franz connection comes in, mind you the lyrics aren’t overly chipper. You know what, this band’s really starting to grow on me and that can only be a good thing.