STUCK RECORDS

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Rihanna – ‘Russian Roulette’

This is a massive risk for Rihanna to take, with all eyes on her as she releases the follow-up to her breakthrough album Good Girl Gone Bad. ‘Russian Roulette’ is no ‘Umbrella’, but it’s a massive step forward artistically and positions Rihanna once again on the forefront of pop. The eighties guitar intro, the dark subject matter (the title does not seem to be a metaphor) and an emotional vocal performance have made ‘Russian Roulette’ one of the songs of the year, and certainly the single of the week. It deserves to be huge.

X Factor Finalists – ‘You Are Not Alone’

This on the other hand, is not a pleasant listening experience. I don’t watch the show so I’m going purely on the song alone, not knowing anything else about these people. They sing as if they have no idea what the words mean, I’ve heard more emotion in an announcement at the train station. None of these voices stand out at all (the producers seemingly know this as the choir at the end is an overblown and ridiculous touch) and hopefully this will be quickly forgotten. Give a few pounds to charity some other way, avoid this single and buy the original instead. Buy a pen from a charity stall on the side of the road – at least you might enjoy the pen (and it’ll probably have more personality than all these vocalists put together).

Jason Derulo – ‘Whatcha Say’

I feel like I should add a “featuring Imogen Heap” up there because this relies very heavily on a sample from her underrated classic ‘Hide And Seek’, and it uses it really well. The sample is the best part of the song and those familiar with it will have the added advantage of singing along like a loon. This isn’t anything more than a catchy R&B tune but it’s easy to hear why it got to number one in the US. Very good.

Mariah Carey – ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’

The video is hilariously bad, possibly the worst major-artist video of the decade, but the song itself is a passable cover of a song everybody knows. But passable is not good enough these days for Mariah, and it says a lot that they couldn’t find anything more immediate or commercial to go for as the second single. She gives a good vocal performance, but I can’t help but feel that she did this much better in the nineties. Pleasant nonetheless.

Little Boots – ‘Earthquake’

The little popstar that could, Little Boots, is back with the third or fourth (it’s confusing) single from her very good album Hands. The previous two singles (‘New In Town’ and ‘Remedy’) were excellent songs with great production, and this follows in their footsteps. Perfect for radio and with a huge, catchy chorus, Earthquake deserves to do big things. Another sign Little Boots will not go the way of Miss Dynamite and drown in the hype.

Alesha Dixon – ‘To Love Again’

I haven’t really been taken with Alesha with the exception of ‘The Boy Does Nothing’ and unfortunately this isn’t doing anything to excite me. It’s nothing to shout from the rooftops about but it is a nice ballad in the vein of ‘Battlefield’ or ‘Halo’ although nowhere near as good.

Marina & The Diamonds – ‘Mowgli’s Road’

Apologies for a possibly obvious comment, but if Kate Bush started out today she’d sound a lot like this. From the opening chicken noises I thought this was going to be another “weird girl” song that we’ve just about had enough of this year, but this is good enough to escape that tag and have a life of its own. All eyes will be on Marina next year to see where she goes after this. Make sure you watch the video too, it’s quite clever indeed.

Agnes – ‘I Need You Now’

I have good feelings about Agnes, she shows potential, but this is a little bit on the boring side. Who will remember this in five years? Here’s hoping something a little more exciting is to follow.

Ellie Goulding – ‘Under The Sheets’

Another unfulfilling single here from a singer who shows promise, Ellie Goulding could do much better than this if she carves out a clearer identity for herself – she just sounds too much like a Little Boots/Florence hybrid, which I know is said about every new female singer this year but it really does apply here. The song is okay, if it was released a few years ago it would have sounded fresh, but now it’s lost in the shuffle and I doubt it will be a hit. Again, hope something better is released next.

Richard Croft