I wanna run--what?

Sorry for the bit of gloating, but "Smash Into You" from Beyoncé's new album is so totally Jon McLaughlin's "Smack Into You" (not that he helped write it--I've read nothing that supports that idea) with a little bit of lyrical alteration.

Me and you belong?

This could be completely 100% wrong, but does anyone else think there's a chance "Smash Into You" from Beyoncé's upcoming album might be a slightly reworked version of Jon McLaughlin's "Smack Into You"? Both have Tricky and The-Dream as writers and Beyoncé could have just altered, say, "smack" to "smash," few other things and got a writing credit. And it is a ballad that you could imagine fitting in on the I Am Beyonce part of the double album. Would also explain the song not making it onto Jon's album...

Once again, I could be totally off on this. Just a thought.

As I watch my feet take turns hitting the ground

I can't remember whether I've ever mentioned this on the blog or only in comments elsewhere, but I don't like John Mayer's music (no, this isn't going to be about his rising-up-the-charts cover of "Free Fallin'")--blame "Your Body's A Wonderland" and "Daughters" (I'm sure I'm just setting myself up for the day he releases something brilliant and I have to take that back, but those songs really do drive me crazy). In fact, I usually, despite all evidence to the contrary presented here on the blog, think of myself as being pretty leery of male singer-songwriter types (note that the singer-songwriter type is not necessarily the same as someone who writes and sings their own songs; the latter need not necessarily be the former and, to an extent, vice-versa).


All that notwithstanding, I've been hopeful about Jon McLaughlin since back in 2006. His song "Industry" appeared on this blog in its first few months of life and it's a song, in that version, that I'd still stand up for today, one of the songs I'm most glad I've posted (I think the version that eventually went on to appear on his major label debut, Indiana, was inferior--it felt like it had been excessively padded out to create a sound that would cause people to say "oh, he's a great piano-based (serious) singer-songwriter," when in fact it was the greatness, the willingness and knowledge to rise and fall, to let things build and to let them fall out, of the original version that actually proved that point). "Praying To The Wrong God" and, to a little lesser degree, the delicate croony "Beautiful Disaster" from Indiana are great songs as well, and yet somehow I wasn't sold enough to buy the whole album. He was still an artist I continued to have great hope for, though, that one day he'd live up to his promise, and I was really hoping his appearance in the movie Enchanted with the song "So Close" would end up bringing him the level of fame he deserved.



The song won him an Oscar nomination, but despite Jon actually appearing in the movie singing the song, he didn't properly break, at least not at the level I would like.


He's just recently been given a second chance at making it big (or at least the level of big your singer-songwriter can get to), and with some surprising big writers and producers supporting him (as well as with a bit of a restyling--see photo below); the final song in this post was, unexpectedly, produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream. On a new record label, Jon's released the single "Beating My Heart" (video here), but once again mainstream success seems to be proving elusive for him. With the album, titled OK Now, set to come out in a few days, I guess all I can do is hope buzz builds after its release or he'll get yet another chance.

Of the songs we've heard from this era, not all work for me, but the ones that do are great. I'm not sure whether it's Jon's voice, whether he's got a better ear for melody, or whether I just bring less prejudices to the table with him, but he manages to win me over where other singer-songwriters don't: on the ballads. "Things That You Say" is a ballad that goes for that not unheard "lie to me, say our relationship is better off than it actually is" angle, but there's something dreamy about enough of the moments here that I buy it, hook, line, and...well, and almost sinker.

"Smack Into You" is, once again, a ballad, but despite my best efforts to resist, that swoony chorus sucked me in. It's a slow-burning song, the very opposite of what the title leads you to expect--well, perhaps not; that title does have a bit of an Adult Contemporary ring to it, doesn't it? And the song is that, but it's no worse off for it. It's an enfolding, enveloping song, and if countless people are robbed of the ability to fall in love to the soundtrack of Jon's warm, intimate-yet-increasingly-flirting-with-epic reassurances and especially that final "ryunnn-ryunnn-ryunnn-ryunnn-ryoo-oo-oo-oo-oun" because "Smack Into You" is relegated to being an iTunes bonus track, I will not be happy. Could a widely watched TV show license it for use in a key scene right now, please?

To preorder Jon McLaughlin's new album, OK Now, due out October 7, go here (physical). To listen to clips of all the songs, go here. I don't know how the album as a whole will be, but we've at least got several gems out of the full lengths songs we've heard so far. He is incorporating bits of '80's influence into his singer-songwriter style here--we'll see how it works out, though I hope it does so.

Next up: maybe that Belgian song.

And when you grow silent, I start to fall

Back in August, I wrote about American singer Jon McLaughlin, but he was in my big post on piano-based songs, so I don't know that he really got the attention deserved. I just found out some news about him, though, so I wanted to take the opportunity to write about him again. Jon has released albums before, but I think his new one, Indiana, is going to be his attempt to really "make it"--not only does he have more backing behind it, he also worked with the Matrix, among other producers, which to me implies he's really hoping for a hit off of this one (and apparently he's linked with an upcoming Disney movie; if you listen to the lyrics for what I think is going to be the lead single, "Beautiful Disaster," it sounds like it would fit in with the movie--the movie is about a princess, and the lyrics reference "happily ever after"--so it wouldn't surprise me if he tries to launch the single in tandem with the movie). I have nothing against singer-songwriters; after all, McFly certainly write their own songs, and, slightly more in the category of what you think of when you hear that term, Darius is a singer-songwriter. However, I think there's a certain sound you really expect when you hear "singer-songwriter"--something like John Mayer or Ben Folds--and, though I love my "boys with guitars" (or more accurately, in Jon's case it would be "boy with piano and some guitar") music, the "singer-songwriter" sound is one that I'm generally not all that fond of; rarely does it "pop" for me in the way that I prefer music to do. It remains to be seen whether or not Jon's album will impress me, but I still absolutely adore one of the songs that will be on it, and it's one of the ones I posted back in August.

Industry--since this is already shameless reuse of a song I posted months and months ago, why don't I just go all the way and recycle what I wrote then, too? (Lame, I know). "His songs are beautiful but there's also a bit of fun or passion in them--maybe something that I feel is missing from The Fray's song. The chorus has a bit of an anthemic feel. Midway through the song, there's a sudden quieting followed by an amazing build up; then, suddenly, the song feels like it stops, and you're left in the lurch, wanting more, before the chorus returns for one last go-round." I think that still stands, especially that last sentence. The song takes a little while to get going; though the chorus is good that first time around, you really have to wait for the second verse for it all to begin to come together, to get a feeling for where the song is going. Just when you think you know where it's going, though, you get that sudden drop in volume and that buildup I mentioned, and continue to love. The final return of the chorus is just as unexpected, too. If Jon himself wrote this song--which I presume he did, though I could be wrong--I think it shows he's someone worth paying attention to. Not everything I've heard by him has the same strength (some of it, which you can listen to here, falls too much into the singer-songwritery category for me; some of the songs he's had on his MySpace are on the CD and are better than the ones you can listen to there--I like "Praying To The Wrong God" a lot, too), but "Industry" means I'll be paying attention to him in the future. Basically, "Industry" is piano-based (piano pop-rock, maybe) with just enough jaunt for me to stay interested, pretty, catchy, and generally well-done, so if Jon's ever reduced to soundtracking Grey's Anatomy, at least you know he does have some good songs out there.

Jon McLaughlin's next album, Indiana, isn't out yet, but keep an eye on his official site so you know when you can buy it. Until then, you can buy an earlier album here.

Next up: hopefully that German band, but possibly that former Norwegian Idol contestant.