Hadouken return with their latest single ‘Mic Check’ and a rather spanky little item it is as well. Singer James Smith claims he wants to use his music ‘to make immediate contact’ with the fans and immediate is perhaps the most appropriate word you could use to describe this. I love it when a piece of music hits you in the face like a brick wrapped in a wet towel and this is one of those moments. A massive undercurrent of bass and frothing synth spill out from this little monster allowing it to do a lot of damage in the two and a half minutes it occupies. Of course the cheeky sample from seminal dance classic ‘Rip Groove’ doesn’t harm matters either. You won’t be able to ignore this, I likes.
Out April 12th, check their website for the upcoming headline tour.
Next is the new single from Agnes (who?). For those of you who don’t know who Agnes is (that’s everyone then). She’s a former Pop Idol winner from Sweden and that fact alone made me grizzle, still it was only fair that I actually gave the track a listen I mean Sweden has given us other stuff before…y’know…like Abba (everyone alive likes Abba and those that don’t dance to them in secret).
Interestingly enough this single has shades of Abba about it. Imagine if the blonde one had survived some terrible accident in…ooh..1978. She would have sounded a bit like this, only she would have paused every now and again to look over her shoulder and reminisce about where the red head, the beardy one and the monkey had gone. It is a rather light airy affair, with a pretty competent hook and melody and a solid pop vocal. All concerned with this single had a fair idea what they were doing when it was bolted together in a Swedish pop factory and even the fact that the remixes are distinctly average it doesn’t seem to detract from what the song aims to achieve (Benny Benassi does his bass heavy recut for example). A knowingly clever pop moment. Out March 8th. (note: I did play this to someone who was much younger and cooler than me though and I thought he was going to vomit).
