The Singles Jukebox

We bring you the hits of Europe… last year!

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[5.38]Iain Mew: The instrumental is low key for an all-conquering European dance hit. That may be why it took around a year to attain that status, but its smoothness is the best thing about it. Sadly the addition of Will Heard turns “Sonnentanz” into a stroll in the sunshine accompanied by a lovestruck bore who won’t leave you alone.
[4]

Brad Shoup: Anagram time! Plug “Klangkarussell/Will Heard” into the applet and get “arranged swells lull khaki”. But alas, it’s the #hotsportstake but not the story. The bass rumbles like a Rudimental production, and Heard’s bit, plus the brass parcelling, is a more elegant version of John Newman’s Wigan Casino breakdown from earlier this year. Heard’s jagged phrasing is fighting its way out of the heavily retro arrangement (all vibes and sassy flute and jazz guitar turnarounds). I’m sure the remixes correct that. But here, Heard’s sonic plight becomes an emotional one.
[7]

Anthony Easton: This might be doing well in countries where English is a third or fourth language because the message is clear enough to be universal, but not complicated enough to cause any ambiguity, it’s too bad that this carries over to the production, which is equally generic.
[5]

Edward Okulicz: The instrumental is soft-focus effortlessess (and kind of lovely) but within “Sonnentanz”‘s first minute Heard is trying way too hard and his vocal is bad-tasteful and pestering.
[5]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: In its original instrumental form, “Sonnentanz” sounds like a parody of wine bars and the music from those George Clooney coffee adverts. It’s “mature”, it’s “sensual”, it’s downright cornball. Now added with an assist from jazz musician Will Heard, it’s evolved into something slinkier — something warm where it was once coldly professional. Heard’s vocal devotion gives those tooting saxophones and the pesky xylophone some substance, making the song the genuine article rather than a parody. Tightened from six minutes to three, the structure remains much the same — it doesn’t build up to any climaxes or threaten to turn Heard’s loving into something visceral. It slinks around, destined for a comedown that takes place somewhere between the end of the night and the start of the morning.
[6]

Jonathan Bogart: A perfectly lovely slice of funky chillout music ruined by an unctuous singer smarming his dumb pick-up lines all over it. The instrumental would be a [7].
[4]

Scott Mildenhall: The instrumental version of “Sonnentanz” that’s been a hit in parts of western continental Europe over the past year was all a bit “mmm, jazz”; whether it was that or a belief on the part of The People In Charge that even wordless music needs a translation before it washes up on British shores that created the need for Will Heard to stumble his way over the top of it with his standard-issue scratchy, earnestly yearny vocals, he’s improved it tenfold, or afewfold at least. Yes, it’s naught more than a cut-and-shut, but some great songs have been made that way. The mere presence of a voice alongside Sweep‘s virtuoso uncredited performance bolsters it. It’s no “Happiness“, but it is somewhere in the region of a “Destination Calabria“.
[7]

Will Adams: The sun don’t shine with apathetic synths or misplaced horn blips, either.
[5]