Summer Anthems in Singled Out!

July 28, 2004 by Vicky Ndukwe & Lowri Williams

‘Been Around The World’ is the first offering from Zena’s debut album. It’s taken a while for the girl from Birmingham to release some solo material, since her departure from the successful UK urban act Mis-teeq. She supposedly left 'em because she was unhappy with their musical direction during the breakthrough of UK Garage. Ironic because this production has no direction at all, like a lot of the work produced by urban artists the emphasis is more on sounding like their American counterparts and not on the quality of the output. This bland summery tune is easily forgotten, Zena needs to go back around the world and find some individuality.

The Departure have been described as possibly one of the most exciting things to come out of Northampton. Perhaps nasty insults like that are a little unfair, especially when ‘All Mapped Out’ is actually a good single. This release is an infectious and energetic first effort, not bad considering the boys have only been together for seven months.

There’s certainly nothing golden about this latest release from The Golden Virgins, it’s about as interesting and appealing as Cliff Richard's mattress. With its haunting melody and at times piercing, unnecessary guitar sounds ‘Light In Her Window’ is actually quite a disturbing piece of musical literature. .

‘Hello Is This Thing On’ is exactly what springs to mind when listening to this fusion of everything but the kitchen sink by Chk Chk Chk. Sounding like about three different songs that have been condensed into one, it's just too bloody long. It opens like only a funky mofo should, before descending into mayhem, interspersed with frequent namechecks and erm, madness. Good but bloody long.

Beenie Man has returned to these shores bringing with him his over inflated ego that leads him to this self proclamation of being ‘King Of The Dancehall’. This reggae driven but chart friendly track discusses Beenie Man’s success with the ladies and great moves against the background of a relentless drum machine. A far cry from the homophobic rants that got a couple of his gigs shut down last month. The marching beat that holds the song together is in evidence throughout its entirety and is what makes this track a little catchy and is sure to have the Man on TOTP before the summer is out.

‘Summer’ has come, well at least for Charlotte Hatherley it has. Charlotte's first commercially available single taken from her forthcoming debut album, this is another massive grower, if only for the reason that it's not until you've listened to it numerous times that you're aware of everything that's going on, with so many dimensions to everything this girl from Ash does. From furious guitars to plinky plonky pianos to West coast claps to harmonies, it's all there. However, she does team a summer anthem with odd lyrics that are often melancholic in places. Despite this it does live up to its title and is a great summer song.

Agent Blue return with their second single release. ‘Something Else’ is a fast, sneering, simple but effective track. The furious drums and guitars drive right through this punk-rock track that sets such a pace it feels like it's over too quickly. Young Stoke trio perfectly showcase their teen rebellious streak, running through the lyrics with lead singer Nic Andrews screaming that he should be "Showing someone something else". You can catch them live at the Reading and Leeds festivals later this month.

That whistling tune that has been featured on Orange adverts lately finally gets released in its whole remixed glory. Air’s atmospheric and enchanting ‘Alpha Beta Gaga’ has been remixed by hip hop insider Mark Ronson and features the voice of Rhymefest. The outcome of this strange concoction of individuals produces a strange but absolutely striking tune. Taken from their well received album ‘Talkie Walkie’ this track is certain to be a massive hit. The whistling will either drive you to madness or ecstasy, but is sure to leave you curious about this European duo.

'Any Minute Now' is the new single from Soulwax. The debut single from the Dewale brothers' new eponymous album that has been literally years in the making. A mature, highly expertly produced sound is the final outcome of years of toil and it sounds great... unmistakably and welcomely Soulwax.

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