Dealing with the mainstream

(The song which is the subject of this post is not available on YouTube if you live outside the UK, but you can stream a low quality version of what is probably a radio rip on this non-official MySpace site.)

There's a probably undeserved sense of self-satisfaction that comes from loving a song not fully embraced by others (whether "others" is the general public or a much smaller segment of the people you usually interact with) and then seeing that song's artist fully bloom in a way that consolidates your original belief in that first song while also creating the perception that they're only getting better. That really awkward opening is my way of leading into the fact that Tinchy Stryder's new single is fantastic summery pop. "Take Me Back," his Taio Cruz-featuring breakthrough single taken from his upcoming album Catch 22, deservedly went to #1 in the UK, but I didn't see it get too much blog love (even I was guilty of not writing about it here, though I praise it elsewhere).

Follow-up single "Number 1" was even better, with a perfect pop chorus--in fact, perfect pop everything, even though Tinchy's more hip-hop (grime?) style gave the song a welcome additional flavor.

I couldn't tell you yet whether Tinchy's latest single, "Never Leave You," featuring Amelle of the Sugababes, is better than "Number 1," but it's certainly yet another fantastic song with a sound that is both exactly the sort of thing that should be in the charts in 2009 and yet is totally refreshing. Tinchy's kept the strings around and, if it's possible, its chorus is even poppier than that of "Number 1." Breezy, poppy, summery, lovey-dovey pop-meets-hip-hop? Yes, please.