I can't believe it's only Monday, the worst day of the week

One of two likely Xenomania products from a leak of tracks recorded for British X Factor winner Shayne Ward's upcoming third album, "Knocked Down" is one of those songs that makes everything seem to move in slow motion--slower than the beat would make you think, though the gentleness of the instrumental makes the pace seem less than it is. Musically, it's a bit like a more subdued "I Wish" by Mini Viva.

Knocked Down by poppostergirl

The lyrics in the middle of the song at first seem to go a little off course--"Come on, take off something/Girl, don't be shy" is more direct and less kitchen-sink a come-on than Miranda Cooper usually uses--but there's reason to forgive that when, right when you think the song has established the track it will be treading, Xenomania manage to pull off one of their trademark surprises. It's not a section that sounds like it's torn out of a whole different song (a la "Biology") or the last minute reveal of the chorus that's been held off the entire song (a la "It's Magic")--in fact, it's a line we've heard several times throughout the song up to this point. Somehow, though, just as the song is fading out, Xenomania manage to make it pop out at you:

"Because you fit under my arm just right"

I'm sure dozens of songwriters have used a similar phrase before, but what matters is that right there, in that moment, as the song slips away and the keyboards gently swoon and dance their way into silence, it catches you and feels like a moving, authentic expression of something you'd have trouble articulating so succinctly.

What that little fragment captures is also the feel of the whole song, even if it's not necessarily the story the lyrics tell: having a dreamy, loved-up feeling sneak up on you from nowhere. You're not feeling particularly sentimental--caught up in the chase and lusty, if anything--and then there it is: the idea that that little physical indicator, the way your arm fits around someone or vice-versa, might be an indicator of a connection that is, suprisingly, more than just physical. And as you drift off to sleep, mind too fuzzy to really think deeply about any of this, it dawns on you, You know, maybe that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world...

There's nowhere yet to buy "Knocked Down," but you can buy Shayne Ward's most recent album, Breathless, here (physical) or here (digital).