Top Song of 2012: Countdown #1

Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen 

If you don’t instantly recognise that enormous string section intro, then crawl out of whatever rock you have been hiding under for the last year and listen to the perfect pop sounds of Carly Rae Jepsen. The story goes that the track began as one of your typical singer-songwriter creations, courtesy of Carly Rae Jepsen and her guitarist Tavish Crowe, who presented it to producer and co-writer Josh Ramsay. Ramsay has said of his production methods, “If someone has a song that’s awesome, I just produce it. If someone has a song that’s not awesome, I write on it till I think it is awesome.” So it seems you can polish shit afterall. In this case, Ramsay spotted a gleaming diamond-in-the-rough in Jepsen’s original track, a lyric buried away in a verse: ‘So here’s my number, so call me maybe’. In that simple line was the basis for what was to soon become the smash hit of 2012. The lyrical genius lies in the ‘maybe’, coyly added after Jepsen’s rather bold come-on. Cleverly, just in case the idea of a girl asking out a guy was (shock horror) a bit too forward for the 21st century, the rest of the chorus transforms the pursuer into the pursued (‘I’ll give up the boys trying to chase me’). Sure, it’s not going to win any awards for it’s lyrical depth, but ‘Call Me Maybe’ is fun, catchy and carefree. The acoustic string riff and conspicuous absence of synths over a gentle disco beat make the song instantly recognisable; in terms of production, it stands out a mile from the rest of the Top 40. With more hooks than a pirate convention, the chorus will stay stuck in your head for days, and not only that, the middle-8 (usually the forgotten afterthought of many a pop-song) is just as memorable as the chorus. It might be lightweight, it might be teen-pop, but ‘Call Me Maybe’ is the song of the summer, even the song of 2012…maybe.

PopStatz

‘Call Me Maybe’ (3:13)
Charted: UK Official Charts: #1,US Billboard Hot 100: #1
Producers: Josh Ramsay
Writers: Carly Rae Jepsen, Tavish Crowe, Josh Ramsay
Label: 604, Schoolboy, Interscope

Top Songs of 2012: Countdown #2

Titanium feat. Sia – David Guetta

OK so technically, this was released in the UK in 2011, but not until December, which by the PopSlutz rulebook makes it a 2012 hit.

David Guetta joins ranks with Sia as well as two of the key players in EDM and pop production: Afrojack (Beyonce Run the World) and Giorgio Tuinfort (Laserlight Jessie J) for ‘Titanium’. Guetta has spoken of how he rates Sia for her indie-edge and powerful belter of a voice, but clearly also her songwriting talent. Sia has co-written other tracks on Guetta’s Nothing But The Beat album including ‘Let Me Love You’ feat. Ne-Yo and ‘She Wolf’, as well as Rihanna’s single ‘Diamonds’. Still, ‘Titanium’ retains all the hallmarks of a classic David Guetta track: 80s electric guitar-based riffs that are somewhat reminiscent of The Police, trance-like keyboard synths and a solid 4-to-the-floor drum beat that builds and builds and builds and builds and builds…

Structure-wise, the song follows the same formula as other Guetta-Sia collaborations, but somehow packs more punch than She Wolf. What really raises this track above the shedload of Guetta hits that have dominated the 2012 charts, is how Sia’s stunning vocal is accommodated into the production. At the start of the chorus the beat that has been building through the verse disappears completely (‘Bulletproof, nothing to lose’), leaving her voice floating ethereally above a wave of synths, until the snare drum enters with machine-gun-like force a few lines later for ‘Shoot me down’. After a very, very, very long time (over a minute!..that’s like half a century in the time frame of a pop song) we finally get the drop we’ve been waiting for, at which point Sia’s vocals are chopped up into tiny fragments and scattered over Guetta’s head-banging endorphin-whizzing dance break. Repeat pattern until end of radio play.

If 4 minutes of this song isn’t enough for you, the Alesso remix lasts near 7 minutes and doesn’t lose momentum for a second.

PopStatz

‘Titanium’ (4:05)
Charted: UK Official Charts: #1,US Billboard Hot 100: #7
Producers: David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort, Afrojack
Writers: Sia Furler, David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort, Nick Van de Wall (Afrojack)
Label: Virgin, EMI

Top 5 Songs of 2012: Countdown #3

Thinkin’ Bout You – Frank Ocean

 

Before Frank Ocean was, well Frank Ocean, he was Lonny Breaux, a songwriter that in his early career penned songs for artists such as Brandy, Justin Bieber and John Legend. His metamorphosis into Frank Ocean saw him rise to fame, co-writing and featuring on two tracks for Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne album (‘No Church in the Wild’ and ‘Made in America’), as well as writing the beautiful ‘Miss You’ on Beyonce’s album 4 in 2011. His highly-acclaimed album Channel Orange was almost entirely produced by Ocean, though he had some help along the way. The star-studded production credits are a testament to Ocean’s talent, it includes Malay and Pharrell, as well as featured artists John Mayer and Andre 3000. ‘Thinkin’ Bout You’ is a straight-forward R&B love ballad, it is timeless, emotive, intense and understated. Ocean’s natural ability as a storyteller shines through, his lyrics convey sublime imagery without losing sight of a clear narrative. The melody in the verse weaves effortlessly as Ocean somehow speaks and sings  simultaneously – you can see why there has been many-a-comparison with Prince and R Kelly. When the chorus hits his falsetto soars over the ebb-and-flow of simple synths with flanger effects and gentle electronic percussion. Shea Taylor (Beyonce, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Solange, Rihanna) produced this track with Ocean, and the duo have played it perfectly, keeping production sparse with minimal instrumentation to bring the vocal to the foreground. The song’s rise-and-fall is seamless, with a gentle warm string section opening the track and re-entering for the second chorus as the song builds and builds before gently easing back for the finish. Don’t be misled by the relatively low chart success of this song, Frank Ocean is one of the most talked about artists of 2012, and with good reason. So sit back, close your eyes and submerge yourself in the exquisite sounds of the Ocean.

Best Lyric: “No, I don’t like you, I just thought you were cool enough to kick it”

PopStatz

‘Thinkin’ Bout You’ (3:21)
Charted: UK Official Charts: #117,US Billboard Hot 100: #32
Producers: Frank Ocean, Shea Taylor
Writer: Frank Ocean
Label: Def Jam