Magnetic Man ft. Katy B – ‘Perfect Stranger’
When we are all old, and in our dotage, meeting for afternoon socials with a cup of space tea and some laser snaps, we won’t be listening to the stuff old people listen to now. It might seem like an obvious point, but today’s pensioners will have fond memories of Acker Bilk and Alma Cogan, ours will be Biffy Clyro and Britney Spears…and Katy B.
Oh sure, by then she’ll have changed her name to Katherine Beesly (or something similar), and she’ll be in the House of Lords – Lady B of Dubstepfordshire, taking her seat alongside Lady Gaga and Lord Professor of Greenwich – but we’ll remember her because of delicious songs like this.
“Hey Keisha!”, we’ll croak across the gravitables, “turn up the radio. THAT’S more like it. You can’t beat a good breakbeat, can you?”
“You’re not wrong, Jordan”, will come the reply, “this was the first dance at our wedding you know. The DJ made it last for half an hour…”
“Aye, they had proper remixers in those days. Not like the rubbish you get now. Sme of them can’t even crossfade properly.”
(Here’s the video. It’s hot.)
And we’ll be right too. You CAN’T beat a good breakbeat. Pounding bass drums are great, dropouts are lovely, whooshy noises are wonderful, but jam a really ripe breakbeat underneath and magical things happen. People start air-drumming with their forefingers, the head starts to hang looser and nod more, and arms suddenly develop a tendency to rise into the air.
Best of all, you can do all of these things from the comfort of your armchair, should you feel the need.
One question I do have to ask though. Why does Katy, a girl with a voice which is all wide-eyed, vinegary innocence and clarity, feel the need to sing “there’s thrumpthing in your heart” in the choruses? It’s not like she can’t sing the word “something”, cos she does it elsewhere in the song. But there it is, clear as day, in every chorus: “thrumpthing”. Weird, eh?
Of course, when we’re old, we won’t care about such things, or indeed be able to tell the difference any more. Spacecake, anyone?
Download: Out now
www.magneticman.net
BBC Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
Plugged Not Thugged says: “I can’t get enough of their fresh new take on bass music which blends dubstep, UK garage and drum and bass.”
Southern Hospitality says: “Magnetic Man (that’s Benga, Skream and Artwork) and our number one British female vocalist Katy B hit us with yet another example of what now sounds like in London, England.”
Viva La Mainstream says: “The fratboys who got into KoL by drunkenly shouting the chorus to ‘Sex on Fire’ will hate it.”
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