Weekly Column - The Hot Five
- Written by Tom Fake
The Hot Five – My views on five tracks that have attracted my interest in any given week, usually with an older track thrown in the mix for something a bit different. Tracks usually concentrate on pop/rock releases, but really focusing on anything and everything that comes my way.
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Track of the week: Thom Yorke (Atoms For Peace) – ‘Ingenue’ (Live on Jonathan Ross)
Did anyone else see this? OH MY DAYS. Okay, so maybe I’m a little fixated with Thom Yorke, but he really transformed this track from it’s dance-y album arrangement to an emotive solo piano track and it really, really works. No, it may not be the best advertisement for Atoms For Peace’s album AMOK, released earlier this year, but it really shows how talented Thom Yorke is to be able to write a track that works in these very different styles. I also had no idea that ingénue was actually pronounced ‘all French’.
The 1975 – ‘Chocolate’
It appears I’m a little late with this track, but better late than never I suppose. I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to like this track or not, but regardless of social stereotypes this song is just a good example of some soft indie-rock. I’ve also heard it absolutely everywhere, and it’s only now that I’ve actually found out what it’s called and who it’s by. It’s so catchy… probably because it reminds me of Ed Sheeran I would imagine, and that’s no bad thing given Ed’s song writing abilities. You’d have never thought that a song as nice as this would produce such gangster lyrics mind (“guns hidden under out petticoats”), and that seems a little odd, but it doesn’t put me off too much.
She & Him – ‘Never Wanted Your Love’
This is the lead single from She & Him’s new album Volume 3, released in the UK next Monday. I can’t help but find Zooey Deschanel entrancing; I just love the old fashioned nature of her voice, and it’s really shown off here with a lovely splash of reverb. As far as the track goes it’s classic She & Him, with acoustic guitar and string triplets, but that’s hardly a criminal offense. It’s also one of the happiest break-up songs I’ve heard (Taylor Swift, are you taking notes?), but if you ignore the lyrics and listen to the music it’s a classic example of what She & Him do best, ‘50s and ‘60s pop music.
KT Tunstall – ‘Feel It All’
KT Tunstall has taken a slightly different direction with new single 'Feel It All'. She's teamed up with Mercury Music Prize winner PJ Harvey and drummer John Parish to produce a stripped-back, emotive track that draws heavily on country and blues music for inspiration. Indeed, Tunstall’s new album Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon was recorded in two parts in Tuscon, Arizona, clearly a heavy influence on her new style, and is due to be released on June 10. Tunstall has also announced a number of tour and festival dates for this summer, including the Glastonbury Festival and the Cambridge Folk Festival.
Hidden Track of the week: Seasick Steve with John Paul Jones, Alison Mosshart & Jack White – ‘Write Me A Few Lines’
Okay, so this is a little bit of an indulgence for me. I happened to be there with my brother when this track was performed at the iTunes Festival 2011 in Camden’s Roundhouse. It is potentially one of the best moments I have ever had at a live gig, to see musicians of this calibre coming together to perform before my very eyes (apologies for the Atoms For Peace reference). Originally written by Mississippi Fred McDowell, this blues track really shows what Seasick Steve is all about. Seasick’s (or Steve’s) new album Hubcap Music is available now.