The talk of the town

Do you know what? Disregard my entire "we're not going to get to that Swedish singer until Friday or Saturday" speech--why not do it today? You all know me--I absolutely love the Click Five, McFly, and Busted--well, if you love those bands (and Hanson's song "Lost Without Each Other") as much as I do, there's a very good chance you'll at least like Jamie Meyer. Don't let my mentions to those bands throw you--he doesn't sound quite like any of them, and I'm sure there's a closer reference point out there somewhere, but it's escaping me at the moment. Jamie was on the Swedish version of Popstars, and, if I'm not mistaken, he was competing against future BWO singer Martin Rolinski. Though his official website makes no mention of this connection, they must still be on decent terms, because his website links to BWO's. Since releasing his first album in Sweden, he's spent a lot of time in the U.S. trying to make it here, and he's also released another album (or, probably more accurately, an EP).

Good Girl--the moment I heard the title of this song, I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it--I was expecting a response similar to the one I had to Sebastian's "Do What You're Told." However, several things changed my opinion:

1. The video. If you have time, I really really recommend watching it; though it's nothing artsy or too creative, and though it seems too be trying a bit too hard to be cool in some parts, it's really endearing. You can stream it here, courtesy of his official site.
2. The lyrics. Message-wise, it's nothing like Sebastian's song (side note: before you all get the impression I don't like Sebastian, that's not the case at all; as I mentioned when I wrote about "Words And Violence," I love that song, and it's sort of shocking how quickly I've gotten excited about him and his participation in Melodifestivalen based solely on the quality of "Words And Violence" and "Indifferent"). While "Do What You're Told" is about Sebastian wanting control of the relationship and includes lines like "I'm the man, gimme control" and "You've been wearing the pants/It was cool, but I'm taking them back,"Jamie's song has lines like "baby, tease, tease, tease/come put my heart at ease"--basically, nothing serious and nothing that's going to limit my ability to have fun listening to the song.
   
3. The music. Possibly most important of all, "Good Girl" is catchy, upbeat pop-rock done really well--exactly the style I love.

All around, it's both the sort of song and video I'd like to see on the TV more, but it's also the sort of fun pop-rock great for putting on in your room and just jumping up and down and miming along to (though it's not as jump-around-worthy as Busted's best energy-filled songs--those tend to be more spastic than this).

I bought his album through Skivhugget, but they don't seem to carry it anymore; however, you can get information about how to buy Jamie Meyer's debut album, It's All About Me, from his official site, as well as find information about purchasing the followup. His first two singles, "Psycho" and "Good Girl," were, quality wise, a great (seriously great--top-notch) one-two punch; if you like "Good Girl," I really recommend getting It's All About Me, if for no other reason than to also own "Psycho" (there are definitely other good songs on the album, too, but "Psycho" is another excellent fun song like "Good Girl"). You can watch the video for "Psycho" here (courtesy of his official site). Also in terms of his official site, he's put several songs from his first album and his newest album/EP up for free download, so it's worth checking out.

By the way, there's another great pop blog out there for you all to consider visiting: You Don't Know Pop (which is going in the sidebar soon)--it's already featured some groups and singers I love (the Attic, Savage Garden, and lots of others), and introduced me to some new ones (German singer Sasha--I especially like "Rooftop" and "This Is My Time," which reminds me of/samples "Gimme Some Lovin'"--once again, among lots of others). Very poppy (Bardot, Six, Nina & Kim), which is perfect!

Next up: maybe a girl from Denmark.