Spoiler: Reactions
Australia // The Old Man's Back Again - Scott Walker
A nice voice on this fella but one that I think was used in a slightly overblown way - kind of exaggerated and wildly fluctuating. Still, I liked it more than I didn't. Super-solid bass line underpinning the whole thing and fun, well-restrained strings.
Barbados // Cobra (Rock Remix) - Megan Thee Stallion ft. Spiritbox
I had my first introduction to a Spiritbox song the other week and thought it was pretty good for its kind of thing, albeit not really my kind of thing. I haven't heard the original version of this one, either, but I suspect that I'd like it less than this version. Even the screamy backing is quiet and restrained enough that it becomes a spicy accent rather than something that dominates the track in a bad way. Overall, I thought the disparate elements of these two artists blended together pretty dang well - and while, again, it's not something I'm likely to follow up on myself, it's solid stuff.
Sudan // Escaping the City - Justin Greenhouse
This one really kinda washed off me. Perfectly inoffensive but I just couldn't muster anything to pick out from it. Thought it was fine.
Scythia // Skeletons - The Dread Crew of Oddwood
Even as an aro/ace person who often feels like the music industry could do with writing more songs about things that aren't love and sex, I could quite happily go the rest of my life without hearing another sea shanty about pirates and spooky things.
Chile // Is It Love? - Zapla
I'd kind of like the production on his voice to sound less like he's stuck down a well, but I also don't think his voice is really up to all that much anyway. This song's best assets, IMO, are that pleasant acoustic strum and really rather jaunty keyboard part. I did have a good time with it and was surprised that it became a song which didn't outstay its welcome over more than five minutes of length. I'm left with questions over whether yer man is a lyricist or vocalist from whom I'm bothered about hearing more, but I'm thinking about that question harder than I was over the slightly safer bet of the Scott Walker entry so maybe I'm just obliged to rate it above that song.
Antarctica // What Doesn't Kill You Will Make You a Killer - Rabbit Junk
I wish this song didn't take until the halfway mark to find a spark of life. I thought the first half was a serious dirge - the main character didn't make any of their activities (even if some of them were killing and fucking) sound like they were interesting enough to justify telling me about them. The back half wasn't for me either but at least it had a bit of melody and bounce and juice to it.
Italy // Snapdragon - Marta Del Grandi
That intro quickly got me on side - great mix of menacing and alluring, with a terrific drum line. And then what we get afterwards turns into a fascinating mini-cacophony of a bunch of disparate elements I wasn't expecting. A really cool, possibly Chinese-inspired bass line? Hell yeah. Brass parts always welcome. Interesting voice. This is a great way to get my attention. I will have to listen to more of this.
Zanarkand // Retreat - Guerilla Toss
This shares some DNA with the previous entry, as a kind of delirious, cacophanous mess of different elements - however, the shift towards a greater emphasis on electronic parts reduces the freshness of the combination for me. More like we're listening to a bunch of similar instruments played differently, rather than a bunch of completely different ingredients. Not inherently bad, but less exciting given what I just heard. I'm definitely down for some slightly jumbled electropop weirdness - we're at about seven or eight gecs here, I'd say, which is definitely more palatable to me than 100 - but this lands in 'pretty alright' rather than 'actively interesting' for me.
Mount Celeste // Snow Day - Hyper Potions
Oh, yeah, this is pretty cute. It's not going to burrow its way into my soul but it's just nice and that's okay.
New Zealand // Empress - Morningsiders
I think you'd probably have a better chance of getting back together with this woman if you stopped calling her "lady", you weirdo. Anyway, this was teetering on a very fine line of influences where, in its best moments, it felt like an okay Family Crest song and, in its worst, like a particularly tedious Mumford & Sons outing. The piano line is admittedly a pretty solid earworm, but I think I'm chill not hearing any more of this doofus character.
Mali // For Your Heart - Divine Fits
(my entry!)
This is, IMO, the clear highlight of the album put together by the indie-rock supergroup including elements of Spoon and Wolf Parade. I love the choice to go so long on the intro before the vocals come in, and what a kick-ass intro it is without being one that overshadows the still-four-minutes that follow it.
eSwatini // Loss of Hope - Meute
Well, I
do
like me some brass. I had a really good time quietly jamming to this, although you could definitely argue that it doesn't do as much with its runtime as it could. In fact, I will do and am doing that. But I did have fun.Portugal // What Gives - Kiltro
I really liked Kiltro's first album, Creatures of Habit, and somewhat liked last year's follow-up. And I got so excited to see a Kiltro track I hadn't heard before in the Song Contest lineup. Then I realised that I'd just forgotten that this song was on Underbelly. It is fine - nothing on that album is bad, IMO - but the vocals are a bit too buried for me here, and it lacks the magic of the album's most interesting songs, Errasuriz and All the Time in the World. Kiltro have a good hit-rate on lyrics that convey mystery and vulnerability but what power these might have just gets a bit lost in five minutes of a melody that's too gentle and unchanging for me. I still think the guitar work is great for what it is and will vote this reasonably highly because Kiltro, but it's not what I would have picked out from the record at all.
