Just an FYI...
"Bullet" by Charlote Perrelli is in all likelihood the best song you will hear ALL MONTH, and quite probably for the next few months as well.
Have you ordered the album yet? Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!
Fans of "Hero" will pass out when they hear it, but it's not a carbon copy of "Hero" in any way, shape, or form, nor does it have any of that slightly by numbers or slightly lifeless feel that some schlager (the not-so-great songs) can take--in fact, "schlager" isn't even the right word to use here. It's co-written by Fredrik Kempe (of "Hero," "Cara Mia"--why am I even saying this? You all know who he is by now) and produced by Bassflow ("Hero," Ola's "Love In Stereo"/"S.O.S."/"Natalie"/"Can't Get Enough," and loads of other ace songs), so you still have that punchy racing pop feel pulsing through the song, but there's a hint of rock here, and just this one hook that's a little pop-rock-soul--just one hook, though, pushed into the mix of a flat-out amazing Swedish pop song. In other words, it's a pop stormer of the highest order, the production style of "Hero" mixed with the punchiness of--oh, who am I kidding, basically, it's BRILLIANT.
If this isn't a SMASH HIT, I don't know what is.
I'm begging: order the album. Please don't just download it illegally. I promise, it's worth it for "Bullet" alone.
(Listen to clips on Swedish iTunes.)
(Side note: this song really makes me wish I was signed up to a forum just so I could use a dramatic picture of Charlotte as my avatar and "Could take a bullet" as the little description thing near my name.)
Edit: it's on YouTube! You really need to hear it in high quality, though.
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14 comments:
Hearing 'Bullet' has raised perhaps the obvious question in my mind as to whether this would also have won MF or had a chance to go on and win Eurovision (which 'Hero' did and has). On a slightly flippant note, 'Bullet' probably has better strutting and schlager-dancing potential, but this first listen has left me unsure if it matches 'Hero' in overall impact. I think the opening, key change and ending in 'Bullet' are weaker than those in 'Hero'. Admittedly, the weaving of the melody in the chorus in 'Bullet' is fantastic, but I really don't like those really full guitar sounds that are very evident in the opening. Maybe it's just not schlager enough for me? ;-)
The chorus sounds 50/50 Cara Mia and Hero -- speaking in terms of melody and harmony. While both Cara Mia and Hero were quite original. Can't get out of this comparison, sorry...
On a side note, or as a suggestion for future posts: Nienke with "Het Huis Anubis" from the Netherlands. I love it, though the song is a bit childish.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I love it!
However it is missing something...i mean... it aint as euphoric or anthemic as I was expecting.....
I can imagine Charlotte wanting to belt out a note at the end yet the songwriters didnt seem to give her the space to do so...
I know remember what it sounds like. I dont know why...but it really reminds me of Cosmo4's Vida Loca. Which should be out soon.
So I think what you all are telling me is I should get rid of that line about fans of "Hero" all being sure to love this? ;)
I think "Hero" was definitely the right choice for Melodifestivalen--it fits that context a lot better than "Bullet" would. It's great to hear from you again!
It's interesting you say that, Kevin, because when I hear the song, I really don't think of "Hero" (or "Cara Mia") at all--I mean, now that you say that, I guess I can see the comparisons in the chorus, but something about the song (maybe just the added guitar, but I think it's more than that--"Hero" has more of a...a lifting feel, a feel of soaring up, whereas "Bullet" feels more like a kind of relentless, pushing forward sort of song--"racing," to reuse a word) just sets it so completely apart for me. We all react to songs differently, though! I love recommendations, and I've definitely never heard of that one--I'll go YouTube it right now!
I can't wait for that album, Robpop! I don't think it's meant to be such a belter of a song, at least in the "Hero" sense--it's more about pushing forward (which is what the guitars do) than pushing upwards, if that makes sense. I think it wants to be more intense instead of being euphoric or triumphant.
You really have to hear it in proper quality to get a sense for the real...pulse of the song, I think, though I'm not sure if you all will be sold on it even then!
As a P.S., I should warn you all that it's NOT a schlager album; don't expect wall-to-wall schlager stompers! There are a couple, though.
Just listening to the album now.
'Bullet' is a great electro-pop stomper to open the album with, though i agree that its lacking something.
'Show Me A Mountain' & 'Not Alone' are great pop songs aswell.
Conor
x
Christ alive, that's a MASSIVE song. The album is going on my birthday purchase list, Miss Poster Girl.
"the best song you will hear ALL MONTH"
"BRILLIANT"
"stormer"
I take it you like it then... :P
I think 'Bullet' everything you say it isn't to be perfectly honest - 'by numbers' and 'lifeless'. It's alright, nothing more. Heard it all before.
D'you know, I don't know if I've ever felt more out of sync with what people think! Hmmm Conor and Ben--I mean, it doesn't lack anything for me and I think it's one of the few followups to a massive schlager/Melodifestivalen hit that is a 100% success because it's not just trading on former glories and actually has a soul, but if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't!
Aww, Adem, I'm so glad you like it! :D I should warn you, though, I'm not sure you'd enjoy or love the album--it's not generally like this.
Just a little, Schlagerprick. Just a little ;)
Where is the soul? At the risk of sounding like Simon Cowell I find her voice distinctly average, the lyrics are uninspired (though better than 'Hero'), and the melody is nothing to write home about. Oh-ooh-oh-ooh-oh. So what?
Same old predictable key-change.. it is a step up from the dated cheesiness of 'Hero' but this isn't world class stuff.
What's happening to me? I just can't listen to this dated scandipop any more.. it doesn't excite me and just makes me wonder what I ever saw in it. But I still adore 'Cara Mia'.
Ben, I agree, and there's no surprises - the same known effect of an author who writes too much songs per month. I'm speaking about Fredrik.
I don't know that there's too much point in me trying to explain "where" the soul is because that's something you feel; either it's there for you or it's not. I guess the best I can do is offer points of comparison. It's not a--well, let me use examples--here's the most recent example I know of where the matter of "soul" has been so sharply put into contrast for me: September is usually the queen of dance music with soul for me, but I think the UK mix of "Cry For You" completely robs it of all its soul, which is why, though I'm thrilled she's found success in the UK, I can't listen to the version of the song she's done it with--sure, it's dancier and maybe even catchier and makes sense in terms of marketing strategy, but all the emotion is gone from the song for me as well as what made it special or unique (says the girl who loves schlager, a genre known as formulaic). I know you love that version of the song, though, so we must have really different definitions of "soul" in music.
It's actually a really difficult thing for me to pin down--I mean, I don't think there's one type or definition of soul, is there? With "Cry For You," it's the melancholy or the darkness--the hint of it--that gives it the soul; if you take away that sadness or darkness, you're left with a shiny pop song that's nice, but inescapably missing something if you know the original. I think (for me) "Cara Mia" also gets a lot of its soul from flirting with "darkness" or sadness; sure, it's a song you can dance to, but it's just as easily a song you could sob to, at least in the chorus--I think for some people the whole "Come closer cara cara mia, cara cara mia, love is all we need" could just be a lust thing, but it actually comes off as kind of...despairing to me, which is what makes me love the song so much--it's a desperate plea with that edge to it.
I mention those songs not because "Bullet" is like them or trying to be but because it's got a different kind of soul entirely--it's not using sadness at all, really, and you (generic you, not you you) shouldn't look for it there or you'll miss out on the different kind of vibe, different kind of soul, it's going for. The "soul" for me in Charlotte's song isn't a matter of deep and meaningful lyrics or even an emotional pull necessarily and definitely not a matter of playing with melancholy; it's more...well, say, "Dreaming" on Måns's album to me is an example of that kind of soulless, trading on former glories schlager/disco-pop which has no surprises--there's nothing about it that grabs me and it feels very formulaic (jumping back for a second, "Brother Oh Brother" on the same album succeeded so amazingly for me because it played with the formula--the way it went down instead of up on the "brother oh brother" line--and because it took advantage of the aformentioned sadness kind of soul). "Bullet" on the other hand does grab me, completely; it's not a song meant for schlager strutting or Melodifestivalen--it's a song that feels more like racing down a highway at top speed, a grab you and pull you along with it song. I don't think I was even aware of the fact that there was a key change in the song (well, sure, if you'd forced me to write out the song's structure, I guess I would have noticed it, but it's that much outside the schlager frame of reference for me that being aware of the existence of a key change wasn't part of my conception of it--being aware of a key change is not how I hear or experience most non-Melodifestivalen songs, and it's not how I heard this one; it's not about the key change). I think maybe (and it's so hard to say) a lot of what I love about the song is in the musical backing, that thumping part, the "bass," I guess you could say. It kind of mimics those opening guitar riffs but in a more electronic, pop way, and they really propel the song forward for me--like I mention in the above comments, it's all about the racing, pacing feel of the song, the feel that it's constantly pushing forward. It's a different sound from what we've heard from Kempe recently in my opinion--a little rockier, yes, but it's not just guitars tossed on top of a fundamentally schlager song (though if nothing else those guitars surely have to be at least one surprise? When was the last time we got a song from Kempe that used them like that?)--as I was saying to Robpop, it doesn't have that rising, triumphant feeling (which, despite the sadness I was saying that you can see in "Cara Mia," "Cara Mia" still has, in a way--it soars in the chorus and the middle 8); it pushes forward, not upward ("Hero" is an upwards song too). I don't have the musical knowledge to put into proper terms what I hear, so I guess that's the closest I can get to describing it.
My mind's a bit fried at the moment, though, so let me think about it a bit more and see if I can come up with a more coherent explanation!
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