New Music Video! MKS: Mutya Keisha Siobhan ‘Flatline’

First off, I must apologise for the long gap since my last blogs, its been ages. I’ve had job interviews, actual jobs, a lot of travelling and being away from home, being home but being ill and a certain Japanese RPG taking up all my time. More on the latter soon, but first…

Over a year after they announced their reformation, with tons of teases, the briefest of Daybreak snippets and Twitter ‘RT for a follow’ sprees (which I admittedly took part in)  Mutya Keisha Siobhan have released their first music video. As the original Sugababes, their debut was ‘Overload’ was a simple video of a white background and the members in different outfits popping in and out of shot. Will the video for the re-debut, ‘Flatline’ -literally premiered 30 mins ago at time of posting –  be as simple but arty?

Well, no. The whole thing has a pretty funky Instagram-type filter added to it, which you just KNOW the hipsters are going to love (if you didn’t know, MKS are adored by the music loving hipsters of Twitter) which gives it nice summery vibe. There’s a brilliant shot near the start of a dog trying to skateboard which should be a gif on Tumblr already. But in the first 2/3rds of the video, not much happens. Lots of beach shots, people on the beach, the girls looking admittedly great (and happy!). Then they hop in a vintage car and speed off to the desert.

What do they find? Heidi, Jade and Amelle sexy-dancing around the ‘About A Girl’ set? Giant cactus creatures (too much Japanese RPGs Josef)? Nope.

A marching band!

This is obviously all sorts of awesome, although its 99% definitely pre-planned. I’ve only been to the States once but I don’t think marching bands just wander (or… march) around the desert aimlessly, looking for lost pop stars with film crews. Anyway they all have a little dance and its very cute.

So yes, in my high opinion the song and the video are pretty good. Not spectacular or iconic (sorry, hipsters) but good in an underplayed way. This isn’t like the Sugababes of old where song and video has the kitchen sink thrown in, its down-to-Earth and ‘real’. I think that’s how the whole MKS album campaign will be, not in-yer-face attitude with something to prove but just content to do what they are doing.

‘Flatline’ is out September 15th. It’ll be interesting to see how it does chart-wise, although judging by the whole ‘vibe’ of what the girls are doing, I think they’re happy to be making music and connecting with their fans.

The Saturdays ‘Gentleman’ Review

So yes, The Saturdays. They started off being put together by Girls Aloud‘s record label, supporting GA on the Tangled Up Tour 2008. They released their first album Chasing Lights whilst the Aloud were at their peak. Then, the Almighty Aloud went on a year hiatus that lasted three. During that hiatus, The Sats could’ve become huge. But they just sort of… meandered around, fussing about with removing an ‘underperforming’ album off iTunes then releasing an overpriced EP with songs from that deleted album on it. They brushed close to the top spot on the singles charts a few times, coming VERY close by collaborating with Xenomania, the masterminds behind the Aloud only to follow it up with an album that truly underperformed. Then, on the week Queen Nudheen Coyle and company announced their heartbreaking split, the Two From S Club Juniors and company FINALLY hit #1 with ‘What About Us’, a terrible auto tuned mess with fake Rihanna style accents and… Sean Paul.

What I’m trying to say is, The Saturdays have always been entwined with Girls Aloud. They were clearly put together to keep us going during those cold, cold years of enduring Cheryl Cole’s solo career. And as I said above, they did OK. But now, we are entering the POST-ALOUD years of pop. Following that #1, is it time for The Saturdays to flourish?

Hmmmmmm, probably not. Their reality show Chasing The Saturdays didn’t make huge waves in here or America. Manufactured bands don’t always last that long – JLS have called it quits after five years. Una has already had a baby and now Rochelle and Frankie (the ones who were in S Club Juniors) are expecting as well. So the group’s upcoming album The Chase may prove to be their swansong.

So, following a poor lead single, can ‘Gentleman’ raise expectations?

Basically, yes. Before I get to the inevitable Aloud comparisons, which in this song are more apparent than normal, there is another comparison to make. To this:

Thankfully the songs sound nothing alike. The girls have ditched the electronic club trend for something more proper left-field. Ie: rapping. Little Mix and Stooshe are both bringing back the 90’s R&B girlband sound, and this does sound a bit like the latter’s debut ‘Love Me’ but what I find it has most in common with is GA’s Tangled Up album track ‘Control of the Knife’. There’s a cool, speedy reggae-pop beat during the verses and lots of white girl attitude where men are put in their place.

The lyrics too, play with innuendo in the way the Aloud used to (its still hard typing about the Aloud in past-tense) especially during the chorus: “Cause most dudes just hit it and quit it/And then they wonder why most girls just spit it”. Naughty, if not Super Naughty (‘All Fired Up’ reference). And whilst I don’t agree with their choices of men in the breakdown, I’m going to have fun trying to memorise that bit.

So in short, its zippy, catchy, full of attitude, a little bit left field and the best thing I think The Saturdays have done for a LONG time. I’ve complained the bands songs have been too generic and trend-chasing but this could be a turnaround. So far the hit/miss ratio of singles for this album is 50/50, so if half of The Chase is as good as this, that half will be happily on rotation on my iPod playlist.

The Wanted ‘Walks Like Rihanna’ Music Video Review

 

The clip for the new music video by boyband The Wanted is up online. Here are my thoughts…

In short, I like it. Its got that cheeky playfulness that has made me warm to One Direction in their two most recent music videos. If we are going to compare, I have usually preferred The Wanted‘s music, they do great lead singles but their slowies and album tracks aren’t up to standard. By the title alone you’d think this song would be in the same mould as Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Moves Like Jagger‘ but lyrically it has more in common with the Robbie Williams/Pet Shop Boys collab ‘She’s Madonna‘ (go check that one out, Robbie bears a surprising resemblance to Jessie J circa 2011). The chorus is catchy enough and there’s a few ‘boom booms’ and ‘oooh ooooooohs’ but it kind of plods along in my opinion. I think this is definitely their weakest lead single yet, but the music video makes up for it.

The lads parody other boy bands, with my favourite being the Take That ‘Back For Good‘ (Take THAT Take That!) spoof with water bottles standing in for rain. Jay even chucks in a little ‘Gangnam Style’ in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. Its nice to see Nathan looking well, obviously he’s been through a lot since then. I can imagine all their fans are hoping he recovers quickly.

So yes, The Wanted ‘Walks Like Rihanna’ : the song is OK, and the video is a lot better than Annie‘s ‘Tubestops & Lonely Hearts‘ (what isn’t? Seriously Annie, I cherish you and all but what were you THINKING?!?).