In news of the weird, British band McFly have been working on music for their new album with Dallas Austin. It's not that I don't have a lot of respect for Dallas--he's made some of the decade's best songs, no question--but it's a match-up I never envisioned. Hopefully he can refine the boys' sound into something that connects with me more than Radio:ACTIVE generally did. If you've read this blog since its beginning, you'll know how much I love McFly and think they don't get anything near the respect they deserve, but I never fell for the majority of their last album. I'm not sure whether the melodies weren't there for me or if the production wasn't my style, but even just thinking about it now gives me that fingers-down-a-chalkboard feeling of on-edge agitation, which is never a reaction I thought I'd have or wanted to have to the band's music.(Picture from Dallas Austin's blog.)
As incongruous a team as Dallas and McFly seem to make, maybe a bit of spit and polish from the man behind Pink's "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like A Pill" and Anastacia's "Left Outside Alone" is just what the group needs. It's no secret that I'd prefer them to return to the sound of "Transylvania," "Friday Night," and "We Are The Young" from Motion In The Ocean, but if that's not on the cards, I'll settle for music I love, plain and simple.
Let's take a moment for a Dallas Austin song which, although probably not sounding anything like his material with McFly, is perfect.
In other McFly news, the song I class as their best work since the best songs on Motion In The Ocean, the simple, beautiful ballad "Falling In Love," is apparently at #33 in radio play at Spain's biggest station. To steal from fans of a certain underrated Minogue, $ucce$$!
In even stranger news, they also wrote with Taio Cruz. I really like Taio, but once again, I can't say I ever saw this collaboration coming. Then again, it's so easy to think of Taio as "Break Your Heart," Tinchy Stryder-collaborating Taio that you forget he also wrote Will Young's "Your Game" (though even the former Taio is one that, as I said, I enjoy).
6 comments:
hmmm i am not thrilled by this news but am happy that McFly are working on a new album. I quite liked Radio:active though it was a huge step down from motion in the ocean :( I'll wait and see but I'm certainly not ready to give up on my fave pop moppets...
i love dallas austin. "cool" by gwen stefani is one of my favourite songs of all time. i wonder if the collabo with him is done with any intention of breaking into the american market with a more "american sound".
Paul, supposedly we're getting the album in the summer--I know that could easily be changed, but it's always nice to have some sort of frame of reference. No, I can't give up on them either, even when I'm struggling to come to terms with most of their recent output!
I think he's great, though I'm sure I haven't heard half the songs he's involved in; he's one of those writers/producers who I have a whole playlist of songs by. There were (probably totally unfounded) rumors about McFly trying to break the U.S. again and now that they're more self-run I guess they could go down that road they failed with again if they wanted to, but even with a somewhat altered sound, I'm having trouble imagining them finding success here--that doesn't necessarily mean they/their people won't try again, though! "Cool" is, as I said above, perfect, and I say that in a reasoned, "I actually mean it" way, not just my usual hyperbolic way.; one of those songs that I can tell you exactly where I was when I first heard it. The video is beautiful, too; really a work of art, but on an emotional level, too, not just aesthetically. I watched it so much one summer...
I heart TLC's "Creep." Ultimate Dallas Austin.
Yes. It's me again.
PG, I totally agree with your thoughts on McFly (though "nails on a chalkboard" might be strong) -- never really glommed onto "Radio:ACTIVE", and thought "Transylvania" was their absolute peak. I'm not familiar with Dallas Austin, at least not by name, but if you seem at least a little optimistic, then how bad can it be? ;-)
-T
I feel like this might be a good move on McFly's part. I think radioACTIVE was the only McFly album I didn't bother reviewing, which speaks volumes about its inability to connect with me. I like it, there are some amazinnnng songs on it, but it's probably, looking back now, one of their weakest moments.
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