Chart Review: 19th April 2024
Making sense of a nation’s musical tastes.
What a week it’s been, with seven tunes either debuting or breaking the Top 40 for the first time. Starting at (38) is “Jump” by Tyla featuring Gunna and Skillibeng. My ignorance is at play again in terms of the genre but I think you’d call this afrobeat (Tyla is from South Africa). The beat is cool and spare with a solid, bouncing bass, and Tyla in particular shines in her sections. Skillibeng on hook duties does nice work too, his raspy voice a nice contrast to her smooth vocals. Gunna kind of ruins the vibe with some strange, sexually aggressive lyrics which feel like he didn’t read the room, but it’s a pretty decent track.
There’s not a great deal to say about Badger’s remix of Natasha Bedingfield’s “These Words” (35), which puts a nice club beat under the 2004 classic, but deploys Bedingfield’s vocals in such a route one fashion. It absolutely feels like this Badger character is trying to ride the wave of good will Bedingfield is currently enjoying, and the chorus is plastered over the song again and again, barely even chopped up or modulated other than to add a little in-and-out effect to it. The new additions are all pretty good, but the lack of effort is palpable.
Lay Bankz is at (31) with “Tell Ur Girlfriend”. This is strong stuff. It’s a nice retro beat, lurching and squelching, an 8-bit synth joining Bankz on the hook. It feels like a hit for sure, a really fun track with a bit of edge and a strong vision. Indeed the comments on Bankz’s YouTube suggests people are taking this to heart already, with plenty of folks letting us know that they don’t condone the content (i.e. it’s a song about cheating) but they think the tune bangs. That’s an odd thing to feel the need to do, eh? It’s like people have never heard music or consumed art before sometimes. Anyway I like this one.
Big time rising star Chappell Roan is at (33) with “Good Luck, Babe!”. I quite liked her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess which had some cool tracks and gleefully profane lyrics for an artist who you’d assume is sort of aimed at younger listeners. This ‘80s pop-flavoured number is a step away from the brassiness of the record but the charisma of the performer hasn’t been flattened at all. It’s expertly structured and builds to a super chorus. Roan’s vocal yelps are full of character; she feels like she knows exactly who she is, or at any rate wants to be, as an artist, and hopefully won’t be steered elsewhere by The Machine.
Proving the enduring power of Little Mix two years after their protracted demise, Perrie Edwards (now mononymously known as Perrie, for some reason) hits (10) with debut single “Forget About Us”. This is fine, I suppose? She’s got a decent voice, though she can’t resist the temptation to bellow as many notes as she can at certain points in a manner I can’t imagine anyone enjoys. I like the subject matter - it’s a song about remembering the good parts of a relationship even though you know it’s not to be. At the same time it feels a touch impersonal as we know full well she’s engaged to Beşiktaş midfielder and Champions League winner Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain. It’s slick pop, a bit on the tasteful side.
That goes double for Dua Lipa’s “Illusion” (9). I enjoy both of Lipa’s LPs to date, but I’ve rated each of the singles from the forthcoming Radical Optimism less than the last. This one is a proper duffer, I’m afraid. I would honestly defy anyone to remember the chorus from this song 12 seconds after its conclusion. I think it’s supposed to be a club banger but it all seems a bit limp and weedy as compared to what Charli XCX has released from her new album so far.
By contrast, “Espresso” (5) is a goofy joy from Sabrina Carpenter. It’s a swaggering chunk of summery pop from someone who can convincingly pull off a tune about how great she is. The sidemen keep it tight on a light, slinky R&B track while Carpenter just boasts for three minutes flat. She sounds effortless, downright dismissive of the idea of trying. She’s another of these Disney graduates, and this likely explains both her ability to convey character in this song and her remarkable work ethic. This lady’s 24 and five albums deep, plus a healthy filmography. She’s also the niece of The Simpsons’ Nancy Cartwright, fact fans! (It’s worth noting that the lyrics are so daft I assumed at first it had come via of those Swedish pop farms or otherwise someone whose first language wasn’t English, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. If anything that adds to the charm.)
Hozier’s done it again with “Too Sweet”. Once again to the comments section, where people are actually debating what the song is about. There’s even a video purporting to explain it. I have rarely heard a song that more explicitly lays out what it’s about. Another comment has also invoked Gnarls Barkley and yes, this does sound a lot like “Crazy”, only played at half speed and with a bloke pretending he’s dark ‘n’ mysterious rather than CeeLo Green (which, yes, most people are preferable to CeeLo Green).
Pick of the week: Chappell Roan - “Good Luck, Babe!”
