Friday Hill were formed out of the remnants of ten person pop-rap group Blazin' Squad. Made up of Celebrity Big Brother-appearing Kenzie and two others, Mus and James, the group released two singles from 2005 to 2006 as well as an album (all of which are randomly available on the U.S. iTunes, despite the fact that iTunes continues to remove albums by artists like Will Young, Gareth Gates, and Alcazar; I can't figure out any reason for them to keep removing albums--it's not as if it's really taking up space to "stock" them, is it? I'm very untechnical, but it doesn't seem like it's really costing them much bandwith or whatever. I really have nothing against Friday Hill's music being there--I'm glad it is--but I am upset with iTunes for continuing to pull music from the store). Though the first two singles had decent chart placings, the album peaked at #67. Their MySpace has demos that they say are for their new album, although whether that's a hoped-for album or an actually planned one is anyone's guess.Baby Goodbye--oh, come on, don't pretend you don't love it, too. "Baby Goodbye" would fit in with any of the classic boy band stuff. That bridge and chorus are great, with that hint of "we want this to be timeless" (created with the help of certain sound effects that I can't actually name) that helps set this apart from a lot of the pop ballads that are released. All right, so you could probably criticize the lyrics in the rap, but the almost back-and-forth feel of the chorus (those "I"'s? whoever thought of doing them like that deserves an awful lot of credit for the effectiveness of this song) and the moments in the bridge where the backing vocals come in are touches that work. Even the only-somewhat-more-impassioned "and why weren't meant to be!" is perfect. I've only bought their singles, but I'd be very surprised if the album has anything this good. Still, it was worth having Friday Hill around even if only so we could get this song.
To buy Friday Hill's album Times Like These, go here (physical) or go to iTunes; for example, if you live in the U.S., go here. I really like "One More Night Alone," too, even if it is a cover. Their two singles are very much the (well, a--not the only) type of music I'd like to hear more of nowadays.
Next up: back to Sweden, I think.
6 comments:
I bought the single for "Baby Goodbye" on my last trip to London, in fall of 2005. Unfortunately, that was their only good song and the rest of that album was wretched.
Wretched indeed. One of the boys was good to look at though.
I guessed it would be. The songs on their MySpace don't sound particularly good either...I need to go check and see who was responsible for writing/producing "Baby Goodbye."
And Pinkie, which one?
Just pulled out the single...
Written by James Mackenzie, James Murray, Mustafa Omer, Harry Wilkins, Si Hulbert, Simon Eyre
Produced by Si Hulbert
Thanks for looking! Hmm...none of those names sounds familiar (should they?), besides the members of the group themselves...maybe they just got lucky?
I don't recognize the producer, and I'm assuming the three guys in the band are three of the writers.... Yeah, it really is the shining moment on a wasted album.
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