Taub Judah Entertainment Palace

So, the tabloid hooey that it would be uncharitable to mention in relation to this song can be summarised thus:

Nadine’s song is out a week later than Cheryl’s. It is like Blur vs Oasis all over again.

Nadine’s album is out a week later than Cheryl’s. It is like Take That vs East 17 all over again.

Nadine and the other Aloud girls might not be getting on as well as they would like you to believe. It is like Robbie vs Take That all over again.

Nadine might not do as well with her solo album as Cheryl will with hers. This is possibly because one of these women is a key part of a hugely popular weekly TV talent show, and is currently enjoying national treasure status, and the other has yet to prove that she can break out of the constraints of being Nadine from out of Girls Aloud. It is like Sabrina Washington vs Alesha Dixon all over again.

SO, having got all of that out of the way, what’s Nadine’s song actually like?

(Here’s the video. Somewhere there is an empty dressing-up box looking rather forlorn.)

Well it is clearly the work of someone who wants to make it very clear that they are mature, and that their music exists in a timeless sphere which is unaffected by current trends. There are grinding guitars in there, and real brass instruments, like grown-ups use in their songs, and there’s a lot of soul in Nadine’s pained howl.

There are no spiralling club-banger synths, there is no autotune, there is no mad chanting, and no-one sings “ayo”. Four things which would place Nadine at the very now-ness of popular music, and therefore ruin the idea that she’s a soul madam from always o’clock.

If we are to draw a parallel with her bandmate, based on the music alone – Cheryl’s hit songs seem to speak to a public idea of what her love life is like, while Nadine is attempting to prove that she is no longer the young girl with the big voice that she was in 2002. She’s now a fully grown woman with a big voice. And big voices and rocky-soul go together like Paloma Faith and hats.

And actually, if there is a comparison to be made musically, it’s probably with something like Paloma’s ‘Stone Cold Sober’, or some of Tina Turner’s ’80s hits, only you never heard either of those two making that strange “a-haow” noise with which Nadine begins proceedings. It sounds less like an emotive mic-check and more like one of those compression sounds people make when they’re clearing out their sinuses.

Work your way past all of this baggage though, and there’s a bright, engaging song here, sung by a woman whose voice deserves to be heard on its own merits. Whether there are enough people out there willing to do this, in the midst of a gossip tornado, is a different matter entirely.

Download: November 1st

www.nadineworldwide.com
BBC Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

It’s Pop says: “The track is clever precisely because it is not an instant smash, but a grower that takes a few listen to fully reveal itself.”

Reflective Inklings says: “What makes things even sweeter is the instrumentation done. The track does not sound like a rip-off of a Guetta-produced track at all.”

The Chemistry Is Dead says: “first thing it reminded us of was that Kiss cover by Tom Jones, then a bit of Echo by Girls Can’t Catch and Rihanna’s Umbrella in the verses”

View full post on BBC – Chart blog

True fact: This song made Fearne Cotton cry. Out of her EYES, dammit!

It all happened on the Sky 1 sort-of-like-the-X-Factor-but-the-judges-are-all-off-Later-With-Jools musical talent show Must Be The Music. You all know the setup by now. Three judges, a big audition arena show, a presenter backstage talking to the acts before they go on. Two girls walk up to Fearne, who is basically the ‘Dermot’ in this situation. One is called Katie Pepper and the other is called Emma, she plays the piano, hence the name. They are from Manchester and they are excited and nervous.

Emma reveals she has had some troubles in her life, and that making music with Katie has helped her pull herself together. They then take to the stage. Then The Magic happens:

Instead of performing an off-key version of an Alicia Keys song, or even a bland re-write of an even blander recent pop ballad, Emma strikes up some dour chords, and then Katie opens her mouth and sings up a great big bruise. A massive black-eye of a song. An ‘Everybody Hurts’ where literally everybody hurts.

(Can’t show you the video. Ad cooties.)

I don’t mean it’s painful to listen to, not in the sense that they’re doing anything musically wrong, at any rate. It’s just…blimey that’s an unsettling noise to hear coming out of a televised human face, isn’t it? Katie’s voice is closer to that of Antony (of …and the Johnsons fame) than, say, Leona Lewis, and although the song they’re playing is a little clunky and unvarnished (by the standards of yer slick Top 40 acts), it’s clearly a thing of substance, especially when sung like that.

Outside of the viciously-pigeonholed TV context, it would probably make less of an impact, a slightly wonky song, earnestly sung, by a lady with a boyishly deep, but operatically huge voice. But stick it in the middle of a silly old TV talent show and WHOAH!

The looks of shock and delight on everyone’s faces are perhaps similar to those you would see if you organised an imaginary dinner party, where you and your friends have dressed up smart, and gathered around an immaculately-laid table, only to spend the entire evening pretending to enjoy a sumptuous feast (more ghost beef, vicar?), with all the not-really-there trimmings…and then a latecomer arrives with real home-made trifle.

It might not be the finest trifle money can buy: some of the jelly hasn’t set properly and the custard is a little runny, and there are peanuts and raisins sprinkled all over the top, as a radical garnish. But you can’t deny that it is actual food.

Download: Out now

www.facebook.com/pepperandpianoofficial

(Fraser McAlpine)

View full post on BBC – Chart blog