είσαι ότι έχω ονειρευτεί

With apologies to PopSound, which I know has featured this song before, I'm writing about Georgian/Greek (Georgian in birth and upbringing, and Greek in where she's chosen to focus her music and career and where she's lived since she was 22, which would mean she's been there for about five years or so) singer Tamta. A runner-up on Greece's version of Pop Idol, she was also one of the candidates to represent Greece in Eurovision 2007; she took third out of three, losing out to Sarbel and "Yassou Maria," who took first, and Christos Dantis and "No Madonna" ("you had the chance, you had the honor, but baby, you're no Madonna"--apparently leaving girls because they can't compare to Madonna is big this year), who took second, and I'm not complaining about that result at all--I quite liked those two songs. Still, her lead single for her second album (if we exclude the national final song "With Love")--far from new at this point, and recommended earlier this year (thanks!)--has me toying with buying her second album, just to see if there's anything else as good as this on it.

Agapise Me--which would be "Love Me," maybe? "Agapise Me" is fantastic--it's got a light electro/electronic backing that, along with its mysterious opening, instantly hooks you in, but it's subtle as well, sophisticated--maybe anything with a hint of mystery in the music automatically wins the description of "sophisticated" (though it's possible few in Greece itself would see her or her music in that way), and that certainly helps, but any classiness certainly doesn't prevent this from being an accessible and catchy pop song. It's a very refreshing sort of song, one that it's easy to just let wash over you, and I mean that in a good way. By the way, though it's in Greek, it doesn't sound "overly Greek," if that makes sense--not that it sounds un-Greek, but it can appeal to those who don't see themselves as fans of Greek music, I think.

To buy Tamta's second album Agapise Me, go here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe an Australian singer or American group.