New Music Monday #21

Muse!

Madness

by Muse

Album: The 2nd Law (2012)

Let’s do something different this week. Let’s look at this song in two ways and review it twice.

The first way? Let’s pretend we have absolutely no idea who Muse are and this is just a random song from some random band from some random place. Wow! A nice electronic beat, a solid bass line driving the song, a simple but lovely lyric about the madness of attraction; “I tried so hard to let you go, but some kind of madness is swallowing me whole” and an incredibly catchy backing vocal that is easy to pick up and too easy to continue humming long after the song is over. I need to know more about this band, if they’re capable of this kind of magic, what else have they got in store?

Jo Michelmore gives 'Madness' four Shirley Mansons's out of five...

Madness (Take 2!)

by Muse

The second way? Let’s talk about Muse. They've built a very large fan base around a particular sound, a particular way of song writing and rightly so. They’re a hugely talented band that has an incredibly loyal following. However, beside the familiar vocal of Matthew Bellamy, this song sounds so dissimilar to anything they’ve done before it can be hard to imagine this is Muse. The stripped back sound, the electronic beat, the 80’s sounding guitar and layered vocals about half way through, this is a track that’s going to divide their fans and that is something I really like. It encourages conversations about music (which should always be encouraged!) as well as showing maturity and confidence within the band. The ability as artists to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to experiment with them isn’t easy; it’s relatively rare in the commercial music industry and is something that should be applauded. Regardless of their history, as a song itself, Madness seems to have influences of so many; 80’s Prince, George Michael (before he got too annoying), Queen maybe even early U2; how could it possibly be bad with those kinds of influences? It couldn’t, regardless of whether you’re a Muse fan or not.

Jo Michelmore gives 'Madness' four Shirley Manson's out of five...

(Does that make 8 heads? No, it makes it 4. My review, my maths.) Total: 4 heads!!

Strange Love

by Karen O

Album: Frankenweenie OST (2012)

Frankenweenie-Strange Love-Karen O by braindamagedfr


If Tim Burton was to make a new film, what would he make it about? A boy who brings his beloved dead pet dog back to life, of course. If he needed to ask someone to feature on the soundtrack, who would he ask? Kimbra, Neon Trees, Robert Smith, The Flaming Lips and Karen O, among others, of course. If Karen O was to write a song for the film, what would she write? A sweet childlike love song, with a Theremin solo, backing vocals of dog barking sounds and the sweetest lyrics “when there’s beauty on the inside, the outside there’s nothing to change” of course. Does it sound weird or tacky or immature or silly? No, it sounds cute and catchy and perfectly matched to a Tim Burton film. How does she do it? A bit of attitude, a lot of confidence and an incredible skill for song writing. Easy. Easy if you’re Karen O, of course.

Jo Michelmore gives 'Strange Love' three Karen O's out of five...  

NEW MUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Trying Not To Love You

by Nickelback

Album: My research skills have their limits... (probably 2012?)

George Costanza, what are you doing to yourself? We already know that you're a filthy old perv, but I didn't need to see the (admittedly PG) crap you think when looking at Gennifer (with a G). I will say this though; I was so confused as to how your stock fell so low that I completely forgot there was a Nickeback song playing in the background. For that, I say thank you. For the video I say...

Matt Bond gives the 'Trying Not To Love You' video one Chad Kroeger Lavigne out of five...