You're the only one I ever need

Zshare isn't letting me upload any songs at the moment, so here's the post minus uploads for the moment--I'll update this message when the songs are added in. Update: ZShare still isn't working, so I've uploaded the songs to--ugh--YouSendIt for the moment. Is it just me that can't get uploading to Zshare to work?



I've been waiting for David Tavaré to release an album since 2006, when he had one of Spain's biggest summer of 2006 hits with "Summerlove," a song I adored for its ability to perfectly capture the beachside scene its video portrayed so perfectly in musical form. And yes, it was a cover/reworking of another song, but David's version eliminated or altered the strongest, most energetic beat and a deeper two-part beat that ran underneath the song, meaning that the song lost a little of that "just dance music" feel and suddenly felt more like the pop soundtrack to a fading memory of summer. I loved the idea of an artist giving us an album full of stuff like that--summery dance-Europop that doesn't have a hugely high BPM but isn't lounge either.



Unfortunately, we had to wait a whole year before we got another song from David and, once again, it wasn't a totally original song either--this time using a sample from 2 Eivissa's "Oh La La La"--but I loved "Hot Summer Night (Oh La La La)"--only just released in France this year, and doing quite well--as well, if more reservedly so; in addition to giving me another song to enjoy, it served to increase my desire for an album from him. I had no expectations of a masterpiece, but a great summery not-quite-dance album? That, I thought, we might just get. Sure, David himself might be not much more than a frontman, a face and suitable voice, but I'll take music like this from whoever is willing to be a vehicle for it.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that most of the songs on his debut album, La vida viene y va, released this summer, use samples, are covers, or were thrown together from some bits of songs the studio had sitting around. The album abounds in vocal hooks sung by women, and in at least one case--"Centerfold"--the "hook girl" has actually released the song herself (in a non-David featuring version). Still, if the female part in the very enjoyable "If You Don't Know My Name (You Can Call Me Baby)" isn't a sample--like it sounds like it is--it's great work by the producer and a part that you could easily imagine being part of its own song.

Possibly the song that surprised me the most, though, was "I Never Go Home Without You," unassumingly situated near the album's end, shortly before what I assumed was David degenerating into covers "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and "I Wish You A Merry Christmas" (in actual fact "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" is not the Elton John song, but actually an African-flavored dance-pop song. "I Wish You A Merry Xmas" is also not the song I thought it was, but it totally skipworthy). Maybe it was just the shock of low expectations being surpassed, but I'm in total love with the uplifting Europop/dance chorus of the song. Really, give it a try--see if this little Spanish (but English language) pop song doesn't make you smile. I'm so pleased that David gave us something like this; I don't know that it would make sense as a single, certainly not the next one, but it works fantastically as a hidden treasure.

I don't know of anywhere you can buy David Tavaré's album La vida viene y va beyond Spanish iTunes, so the best I can do is point you to 7Digital, where you can buy a digital version of his single "Hot Summer Night (Oh La La La)." If you're a sucker for male-sung light Europop/dance of this sort, though, you might want to seek out the album--it's certainly not all killer no filler, but there are several other songs on it you'll probably enjoy.

Next up: some Danish dance, I think.