Broken Door - Time For Changes

"Leave our troubled minds behind"

This single has been out for a little while now, but I feel that it really deserves to be getting more attention than it has up to this point. Broken Door's older stuff is more radio-rock, but this marks a welcome change in direction to a propulsive, dance-influenced anthem. The verses may not hit you right off the bat, but once that chorus comes in, it's golden. I'm assuming the guys produced this themselves, but it sounds a lot like a Bassflow production, which is an awesome thing. It also sounds like a song that would've done well in Melodifestivalen this year, had it been featured. Speaking of MF, I'll be away again tomorrow so won't be able to live-blog. But I'll be bloggin' for the final, where I am 100% Team Loreen!



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Donkeyboy - Pull Of The Eye

"You could be someone"

I really need this new Donkeyboy album in my life. Though I loved their first one, it appears that they've done exactly what I'd hoped they would for the follow-up. The tempo's ratcheted up, the synths are more prominent, and the band sound like they're having fun. After the brilliant City Boy, this is their newest single. It retains the excellent melodic skill found in their biggest hits, but adds a bouncy, summery beat and an earworm hook (does it remind anyone else of Eiffel 65?). If the rest of the record's half this good, we're in for a very big treat. Luckily, we don't have to wait long to find out. It's released at midnight (Scandinavian time)!



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Radio INK - Who We Are Tonight

"I just wanna fly with my heart wide open"

When I think of Australian music, two sounds come to mind: folksy, sometimes aboriginal-inspired rock and bright, neon electro. They couldn't be more different, but this song definitely fits in the second category. I can't believe that I hadn't heard of Sydney's Radio INK before this week. The band has been releasing singles for a few years now, and they're all pretty fantastic. Think Kylie Minogue fronting a glossy pop band. This is pop music all buffed up until the sheen is almost blinding. It's remarkably polished for what's basically an indie band. The song itself is gently anthemic. None of that overused David Guetta-style production. This sounds more classic, with an emphasis on the melody and beautiful vocals. This is definitely a band to watch!



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy their singles here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Axel Algmark - Kyss Mig

"We're in love"

Though overall, this year's Melodifestivalen has been pretty disappointing, last week's songs were universally strong. Some of my favorites ended up being the ones that finished toward the bottom. In particular, I can't seem to get Axel Algmark's song out of my head. It's everything I love about Swedish indie rock. It has that peppy, string-laden jolt of energy to it, complemented by Algmark's gravelly vocals. It's also sung in Swedish, but that hardly matters, as the "wa ba ba ba ba, we're in love" bits pretty much capture the general vibe. Plus, "kyss mig" sounds almost exactly like its translation ("kiss me") when spoken. Most importantly, the whole thing is almost impossibly catchy. It's the kind of song you're already singing along with before it's even finished. And judging from his other stuff, this isn't just a one-off.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Crown Jewel Defense - Mandy

"It feels like the walls are closing in"

Saturday night, I went to the Darkness/Foxy Shazam/Crown Jewel Defense concert in Seattle. Though I love the Darkness (and they were great), it was all honestly about Foxy Shazam for me. They are, far and away, the best American band out right now. And what an incredible live act! That Eric Nally sure is a star. They were opening for the Darkness, but opening for them was a new-ish band called Crown Jewel Defense. They're more on the hair metal side, though there is a healthy dose of glam (they even had glitter guns!) in their music. I scored their newest EP, but I wanted to post a song that's not on it in the hope of prodding them to use this kind of 80's synth more often. In fact, my favorite part of Mandy is the new wave-esque opening. Unfortunately, the band have disabled embedding of the soundcloud streaming, so you're going to have to click on the link below to hear it.

Mandy

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the EP here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

A Round-Up of Yesterday's Melodifestivalen

Because I missed the live heat yesterday, I've got to at least offer my thoughts somewhere!

* Best Heat of the year by a mile, and one of the strongest in recent memory. It pretty much made up for weeks of middling songs.

* I had a feeling Charlotte would end up fifth, though it still pisses me off. In any other heat she would have won. It's a great song.

* Among the non-qualifiers, I'm absolutely in love with Axel and Hanna's songs. I hope we get a full-length album of Nilsson-penned tracks from Hanna. Meanwhile, Axel's song was everything I love about Swedish rock music.

* Opa was a load of crap. The only bad song of the week, and deserving of its last-place spot.

* Sarah Dawn Finer covering Melody Club? AWESOME.

* I like Danny's song, but the guy annoys me. He comes across as being SO full of himself. I'm on team Loreen this year, 100%. Though it wouldn't surprise me if Danny ends up winning.

* I love Lisa's track, but I think it deserved Andra Chansen, not direct to the final. I wonder if she got more votes than Danny? Probably not.