STUCK RECORDS

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Robbie Williams – ‘Bodies’

Robbie is back. Back from America, where he was living up until January of this year. Back from rehab, which he checked into due to an addiction to prescription drugs. Back from a long hiatus where he grew a crazy person beard and became obsessed with UFOs. Oh yes, Robbie Williams, is most definitely back. And well, lookit here – he’s brought a killer comeback single with him. ‘Bodies’ is too safe to be classic Robbie, but it’s brilliant enough to be trademark Robbie. Written with Trevor Horn, it opens with spooky Gregorian chanting then sweeps into a rousing mid-tempo which just keeps building and building into a unifying “all we ever wanted was to look good naked” chorus. Typical Robbie cockiness (“love living like a deity”) oozes from every line. “Jesus didn’t die for you – what are you on?” he crows at the songs close. Welcome home, Rob.

RUNNER-UP SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Alexandra Burke ft. Flo Rida – ‘Bad Boys’

This would have been single of the week, if it wasn’t for the fact that the b-side, ‘Dangerous’ is about 20 times better, which diminshes the amazingness of ‘Bad Boys’ somewhat. The good thing about this song is that it is so far removed from a typical X Factor winners single you forget that it’s an X Factor winners single, and this of course is a good thing. There’s sirens, robotic voices, a guest spot from a rapper who fully embraces pop music as a genre and absolutely none of that vocal acrobatic crap which makes this tune very singalong-able. It’s not often that I would suggest the end of the song is the best part (it sounds a bit rude to say so – like when you say your favourite part of school is hometime) but in this case I’ll make an exception because ‘Bad Boys’ ends in just the way it should – on a crash-bang of noise. Excellent.

Cascada – ‘Dangerous’

Maybe it’s just my untrained ear, but every Cascada song sounds different yet identical to me. Still, in their capacity as a eurodance/club act they have yet to fail in delivering a track that you maybe don’t care to listen to in your front room but come Saturday night has you out screaming “I LOVE THIS SONG!” as you tear up the dancefloor. The chorus isn’t as strong as it could be – it gets lost in the generic drumbeat that is superimposed onto every. single. dance track. ever. and in all honesty there’s just none of the crossover appeal that made hits out of ‘Everytime We Touch’ and ‘Evacuate The Dancefloor’. I blame the lack of melody.

Editors – ‘Papillon’

Editors are much more of an albums act than a single act, if you catch my drift. I always feel their songs work better in the context of an entire body of work than as stand alones for the chart. ‘Papillon’ is a stadium-esque synth driven number, a new sound from the Birmingham-based indie boys. The incredibly listenable instrumental is let down by the absence of a strong hook, though the “it kicks like a sleep twitch!” holler services well in place of. Anthemic, yes, but somehow ‘Papillon’ leaves this reviewer cold.

Medina – ‘You And I’

This is the english language version of a track that was a massive hit for half-Danish, half-Chilean singer Medina in her native Denmark. It’s a lovely synthy mid-tempo with dance beats telling the tale of a broken love that will not bring you down. It includes the lyric “the music is making me grow” – which is a beautiful reflection of post-relationship feelings. Everyone has their own ‘I Will Survive’ song for when life is getting them down. For 2009, ‘You And I’ fits that bill perfectly.

Michael Buble – ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’

Mr. Buble has the adult contemporary market under his thumb – a veritable master of the genre. Thankfully, none of his most dedicated audience are likely to be familiar with the ‘High School Musical’ soundtrack, as my first listen of this song had me thinking he’d sampled from ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’ (the piano chords are almost identical). Still this is a sweet song about a daydream girl Buble is promising to give everything to. There’s a swing undertone and Buble’s vocals are as rich as ever. A jovial listen with an affectionate sound.

Grace Medford