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deadcactuswalking · 8 months

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 16/09/2023 (Olivia Rodrigo, V, Leigh-Anne/Ayra Starr)

Content warning: Brief sex references

For a second week, Doja Cat grabs the #1 with “Paint the Town Red” - welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start every episode of this show - however much of a non-event - with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. We don’t have much here but they are some heavy-hitters we say farewell to: “Pink” by Lizzo, “I Can See You” by Taylor Swift, “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue and finally, “People” by Libianca

As for our gains and returns, outside of the top 40, not much happened in this week’s chart, and even then, the top 40 happenings are mostly new entries. We do see Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” at #74, and as for our gains, we do see some notable boosts for “I Remember Everything” by Zach Bryan featuring Maggie Roggers at #45, "DNA (Loving You)" by Billy Gillies featuring Hannah Boleyn at #43, "City Boys" by Burna Boy at #23 and "Strangers" by Kenya Grace at #12.

This week’s top five of the UK Singles Chart actually had some decent change-up, particularly “Prada” by casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe at #5, “adore u” by Fred again.. and Obongjayar at #4, “bad idea right?” and “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo off the album boost to #3 and #2 respectively - more on that later - and of course, Doja at #1. Now that’s out of the way, I suppose it’s time to talk about the new songs that entered this week.

NEW ARRIVALS

#55 - “Water” - Tyla

Produced by Sammy Sosa

That was a short introduction, wasn’t it? Usually the rundown is at least a bit longer, but this may be a short episode in general. We do have around seven new songs, but I can already tell not many of them will warrant all that much discussion. Anyway, whoever the Hell Tyla is, she definitely isn’t the Creator, because this song has many other writers, including names familiar to me like Tricky Stewart and Ari PenSmith. It’s not often that an R&B song, which it seems to be by the credits, blows up without name recognition here in the UK, except for like… Eamon but we don’t want him back so I was wondering how this would sound and… turns out it’s really good. It’s a lot funkier than I expected, going off a faster-paced almost dancefloor-ready house groove accentuated by Afrobeats-sounding percussion, in a style known as amapiano - we might have covered it here before. Hailing from South Africa, Tyla isn’t the most unique singer but she has enough little inflections to function within the pretty minimal song, even if there’s a bit more Auto-Tune than I’d want. Regardless, the harmonies are the tightest thing here, as the song is otherwise pretty loose and fun: not everything is perfectly on-beat, there’s random stray snares, cute 808 patterns mixed really low in the chorus and flailing vocal loops just developing outside of an otherwise set-in-stone sex jam, which is an approach I can appreciate for this “let’s make love right now, no questions asked” kind of content. That choir vocal chorus is absolutely infectious and even if the mix gets a bit muddier by the end, I think that actually makes the song feel more intimate and in tune with itself. The song isn’t exactly fully developed, I feel, and could use a proper climax bridge but is otherwise a pretty decent track I’m honestly surprised is here though I could see it lasting a lot longer. Just a bonus thought, I’d also love to hear Doechii on this. Remix, anyone?

#52 - “Tip Toes” - Clavish and Aitch

Produced by WhYJay and LiTek

Clavish making a song with Aitch is like Snorlax making a song with shiny Snorlax at this point. Aitch at one time was a charming, kind of obnoxious nuisance but he and ArrDee alike have quickly become indistinguishable rap stars. And Clavish, well… it’s Clavish. I did say last week that I’d like more 2000s G-Unit-type beats in British hip hop and this does deliver on that trend, with the stock steel pans and faux-luxurious pianos under a clapping beat that is overall pretty good. I’ll admit, WhYJay and LITek did a good job here, no-one else did. Clavish says a whole lot of nothing talking about girls, and well, at least Aitch says that he doesn’t do crypto. That’s… reassuring, I guess. He’s on full bore mode here though, just being dull and gross as usual. The hook isn’t even all that memorable, even if it at least has a much more substantial melody than a lot of UK rap hooks, so it might get stuck in my head. As a whole though, this is just not engaging at all to me.

#35 - “Bongos” - Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion

Produced by DJ SwanQo, Breyan Isaac and We Good

I’m sure a lot of people were expecting a sequel to “WAP” for this one and it most certainly took some people aback by not sounding like it at all. Sure, compositionally, it’s there - there’s a looping vocal sample, the song is structurally nonexistent and bass-focused but on the surface level, considering how it actually sounds, the two are night-and-day. For one, the vocal sample this time is a complete fragment under what sounds to me like a Brazilian funk beat, or maybe a dembow track, but still a minimal, incredibly annoying one, which is a shame because Cardi’s pretty fun on here with basic but memorable punchlines and sassy lines accentuated by her no-darns-given demeanour, which is kind of needed given the complete lack of a hook, and the fact that none of the dirty lyrics are remotely surprising anymore. Then Megan comes in, steals the show with an impeccable flow and commandeering presence on the track that almost makes the beat sound good. Truth is, just like “WAP”, without the overwhelming video, this song is just kind of nothing. By the end, Cardi’s repeating herself as much as the beat and Megan’s presence winds down into sharing verses and ad-libs, so it’s like one shining moment in a whole lot of sludge. Again, whilst it sounds nothing like “WAP”, I pretty much have the same opinion on it. Huh.

#34 - “Angry” - The Rolling Stones

Produced by watt

Oh, hey, the Rolling Stones! When’s the last time they charted? Must have been decades ago. Oh, 2020? Well, damn, nevermind then. This is their first time in the top 40 since 2005, though even that seems a bit recent. I guess these guys are still kicking in a major way… I never got them. I don’t think I like a single song from them that I’ve heard past “Paint it, Black” and that is including their other big hits. They’re one of the most legendary rock bands of all time, but I simply cannot get into them. Their newest single, propelled into the top 40 thanks to a livestream with Jimmy Fallon - wow, that aged quickly - is probably the worst place to start but it is produced by watt, who since working with Post Malone has kind of styled himself as a modern rock producer for older bands, and as you’d expect for a song by an aging rock band from the 60s written with a modern pop producer, it sounds completely competent and serviceable with very little risks. I will admit that riff is kind of incredible in just how simple yet earwormy it is, but the drums feel flat, the content isn’t exactly compelling and whilst Mick Jagger’s voice doesn’t so much signs of aging, it’s not like he wasn’t a nasal annoyance to begin with. That chorus especially feels like it has an unnecessary pop swell that could have been replaced with the drums going double-time or a crunchier guitar, something that would really make this rock, you know? This band would probably complain about songs on the radio not going hard enough, and I know their audience definitely does, but this one goes about as hard as a jaffa cake fresh out the box. I’ll give it to the Jagger-Richards writing duo though, they can still write catchy and sometimes just bizarre songs. “I’m still taking the pills and I’m off to Brazil”? You’re just gonna let that lyric sit there in the outro? Not rhyming it with anything even? Alright, man.

#28 - “My Love” - Leigh-Anne featuring Ayra Starr

Produced by PRGRSHN, Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, Alex Goldblatt and Magicsticks

Leigh-Anne’s follow-up to “Don’t Say Love” actually landing in the top 40 was kind of a surprise to me but she has more potential than Ms. Nelson so I’m not exactly complaining that she’s the solo act with at least a little longevity out of Little Mix. She even brings on Nigerian singer Ayra Starr, who I tend to like, so this could easily end up as a good song, though maybe not matching up to the Timberlake-T.I. collaboration of the same name (plug my 2006 list here)… and I mean, yeah, of course it is. The distant synth lead is backed by a slick guitar in a mix that eventually embraces all the elements of a good Afrobeats song: the layered percussion constantly bordering on both chill and tense, the choir vocals that are always just a winner for me, it’s all here. In fact, Leigh-Anne and Ayra Starr do a little back-and-forth throughout pretty much the entire song and it’s wonderful. The song’s lyrics are where it might miss out just a bit, largely because there’s nothing too unique or poetic about the love she’s giving here, even if the very female-centred perspective is refreshing. I’m more focused on how well the ladies’ vocals blend, the way they play off the bass and rhythm so tightly, the echoing backing vocal from Ms. Starr in the chorus, the breathy ad-libs after the first chorus that just flutter effortlessly off of the drums, pretty much everything else. This is a rather detailed song in terms of throwing a lot of proven pop and Afrobeats tropes but with immense sound design, and the production here from the quartet we have is genuinely impressive, not that our performers aren’t, because Leigh-Anne kills it with her bombast and Ayra is the perfect vocalist to play off that, because of how relaxed as well as just slick and fast she can be at her best, cool dripping off her constantly. This is an excellent song through and through so I’m glad it’s here - whether it’ll last has yet to be seen, and since “Don’t Say Love” tumbled second week, I have my concerns but I hope this continues to chart because it’s fantastic.

#24 - “Slow Dancing” - V

Produced by freekind. and FRNK

Our latest BTS member to chart with a solo hit, this is V, who recently released his debut solo EP, Layover, this being one of the singles it produced. Once again, I find myself kind of at odds with the direction BTS members are going in, with this feeling like a bit too programmed version of a smooth R&B song, which V doesn’t fit just as well as he wants to. Now I’m still a sucker for smooth R&B jams so I end up still liking the melodious elements of this, like those cheesy strings and the jauntling keys jammed under a pretty remote, stagnant-sounding drum pattern. In fact, the chorus just worsens it, as I’ve yet to fully understand why the synth his producers chose sounds like a video game sound font for a glass or smoke sound effect instead of, you know, a synth. V’s performance isn’t bad, even if it’s stuck between sounding like other guys - YUMDDA and Joji come to mind - and being so laidback that it kind of stifles much of the emotion - so it gets off the intimacy pretty okay and… okay, that flute is beautiful. That flute solo is incredibly gorgeous and has no business being in such a song. It caught me way off guard originally and honestly it’s such a shame there aren’t punchier organic drums or an actually bearable synth for it to lay upon. I did listen to the “piano version” out of curiosity - it is considerably worse thanks to the lack of flute, but is mostly the same and suffers from a lot of the same problems, just being kind of identity-less, lacking in second drafts. I wish I could like this more but yeah, it’s not it for me. Sorry.

#7 - “get him back!” - Olivia Rodrigo

Produced by Dan Nigro, Alexander 23 and Ian Kirkpatrick

The intro to this song is Alexander 23 asking if it’s “the song with the drums”. What do you mean, the song with the drums? You made a rock album, Mr. 23, most of the songs have drums. Anyway, I think it’s no surprise that O-Rod’s #1 album GUTS did not appeal to me, as the teen melodrama didn’t wear off whilst a lot of the rawer pop catharsis I feel has, replaced with a sheen that wants to be taken off by sheer emotion but just never finds it footing as anything else other than a faint desire. There’s something raucous and real in here, it’s just not coming out thanks to clumsy (yet unique and very easily recognisable) writing, softened blows of buzzy production that only fully rip on occasion and honestly shoddy sequencing. “get him back!” is a pretty good example, given the drums and fuzz that would go harder if it weren’t for O-Rod being the Beastie Boys for Gen Z girls for whatever reason in those verses, and a kind of bratty chorus that just doesn’t resonate with me on any significant level. I understand it fits with the pathetic, vengeful content, but it’s also just not something I’m going to appreciate, especially not with those faint “ohs” in the verses that seem like last-minute attempts to add a distinct melody, and a bridge that started as a cool a capella idea and ends up as just a mess, not consolidating into the uppercut she mentions because of how she’s not front-and-center in that weak final chorus, and the… can you call it a guitar solo if it’s basic, I can barely hear it, and it’s drowned out by rambling? This isn’t my thing, probably never will be and it’s a shame because I can tell everyone involved is talented, I just don’t think this is ever going to appeal to me. I did like the opener though, and “pretty isn’t pretty”, mostly because I feel like they had a bit more to say. Otherwise, yeah, I’m not a fan.

Conclusion

I might just be getting old - I feel like the amount of songs I consider middling has increased a lot in the past couple months. With that said, nothing here is bad so I probably have to half-sincerely give Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion the Dishonourable Mention for “Bongos”, even though the song’s mostly just decently pestering, whilst Worst of the Week goes to “get him back!” by Olivia Rodrigo, as you should probably expect by now. It’s the only song this week I feel actively fails at what it’s trying to do. The best falls out a lot easier: Best of the Week goes to Leigh-Anne for “My Love” featuring Ayra Starr - by far - and the Honourable Mention ends up going to Tyla with “Water”, I think I’ll check out more of her stuff. For now though, thanks for reading. I’ll see you next week!

#song review #uk singles chart #pop music #cardi b #megan thee stallion #v #ayra starr #leigh-anne #olivia rodrigo #rolling stones

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