Linda Sundblad – To All My Girls
Swedish Women’s Wednesday begins with a slightly NSFW video…
[Video][Myspace]
[6.25]
Chuck Eddy: On the one hand, this is what the new Britney single should sound like. On the other hand, it’s sort of a mess. Not sure yet if that’s a good thing.
[7]
Briony Edwards: No one called Linda will ever be able to be cool. This song sounds like the “sassy” one out of the Veronicas butchering Bonnie Tyler’s (outstanding) back catalogue. No thanks.
[3]
Ian Mathers: Back on the old Jukebox we once covered Sundblad’s much more sedate “Lose You,” and it was/is a fantastic song, kind of Robyn meets Britney (in voice, theme, lyrics, etc.) in a rainy-day kind of mood. This is much noisier and shinier and not nearly as endearing, but god, I can imagine it just destroying the dancefloor at one of the student bars in town. It’s nice to see she can handle more than one type of song with aplomb.
[7]
Frank Kogan: Sundblad’s a shape shifter and button pusher, was coyly and pretentiously provocative on “Oh Father,” then turned around and was a beautifully poignant Robyn type on “Lose You” but even better than Robyn ever was, and I really don’t have a bead on her or on this song, either. In the verses she’s early Madonna, with those thin ’80s beats and those fetching synths; but she uncharacteristically lets the chorus swamp her personality. Fortunately it’s a good chorus, and she seems to be playing around with an am-I-cute-or-am-I-tough dynamic: seems smart and funny, but something’s getting lost in translation.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: “Lose You” is a solid gold [10] and one of my favourite singles of the decade, and this is its opposite; where that one was clear, wide-eyed and emotionally resonant, this is a buzzy mess, much like Britney’s “3”. On the plus side, its hooks survive being submerged in a quagmire of tricksy bells and whistles a bit more but Sundblad is less carnal, more detached and less present here.
[5]
John M. Cunningham: Part of what I liked about Linda Sundblad’s previous singles (namely “Oh Father” and “Lose You”) was their effortless precision and clean pop sparkle. So when this shiny aerobics workout goes all overdriven and Pink-like in the chorus, it’s a bit disappointing, if not entirely jarring. Luckily, I’m still charmed by Sundblad’s sweet, chirpy voice, and the melody it’s attached to has an unexpected kick.
[6]
Iain Mew: I guess it’s partly the accent, but this reminds me a fair bit of Robyn (especially her “Cobrastyle” cover). Difference is how much deeper any vulnerability is buried and the thick sludge of noise that pools over the chorus with no effect other than drowning the life from the song. Every time I hear it revving up again it’s with a sense of dread.
[4]
Anthony Easton: Overwhelmed by the strange irony of the whole mess: meaningless, but so hyper-aware of its own history and rhetoric; interesting to pull apart from a musical standpoint, though divorced from any function, up to and including irony.
[7]
John Seroff: A mesmerizing throwback to fuzzy legwarmers, Sweet Valley High, Square Pegs and Jem & The Holograms. It’s a song so too-cool-for-school that it not only can’t be bothered to tell you how to dance to it, it hardly gives a lyrical damn beyond “yeah yeah”; this is power pop with the emphasis on the first syllable, all the Britney with none of the guilt. The spectacularly corny video is just cream cheese icing. Save this one for the treadmill, the headphones and the first night out after the ‘fuck you’ breakup; it’s snotty lightning in a bottle.
[8]
Martin Kavka: This is a soufflé made of all the uptempo tracks from Robyn’s self-titled album, with several tablespoons of Kelly-Clarkson extract thrown in for extra flavor. It’s enjoyable, but I can’t help wishing that it was either far more or far less disposable than it is. (Part of the problem is the utterly crap video, which has no idea that the titles for Channel 4’s The Word remain High Art.)
[7]
Kat Stevens: Bouncy electropop with a video that pays affectionate homage to MC Hammer (the dude in dungarees from Salt N Pepa’s ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ is in there as well). *Sigh* if only I could get a pair of Docs in my size – they don’t do halves and the 8s are too big.
[7]
Jessica Popper: I’m not as impressed by this as I have been with Linda’s previous solo efforts, but it’s an original-sounding pop song and apparently written by Max Martin, so I’m going to keep on listening until I love it!
[7]
A Max Martin fansite lists the writers as Linda Sundblad, Max Martin, and Alexander Kronlund. She’s worked with Martin and Kronlund a lot, e.g., on “Pretty Rebels,” which contains the line “Flamboyant peacocks, straight out of detox.” “Lose You” is by Linda Sundblad, Tobias Karlsson, Alexander Kronlund, and Klas Åhlund. Åhlund, of course, co-wrote a whole bunch of Robyn stuff (among his many other endeavors), including “Be Mine!” and “Handle Me.” Kronlund co-wrote Robyn’s “Who’s That Girl?” (and Britney’s “Lucky” and “If You Seek Amy,” and plenty of other things). At least this is what the Web says.
Well, I seem to be unable to tag properly. Try this.
This song deserves at least an 8. Shame on you, everybody that didn’t give this at least an 8.
The best thing about the video is how very many elements of circa-1990 it incorporates. It’s like Jane Child covering Cherry Pie, but with boob tape.
Mmmmmm boob tape.
I think the only problem with this it that it brings nothing new, really. Had it been released around (or before) Gwen’s “What you waiting for?”, it would’ve been massive… otherwise I have not complaints.
BTW could this possibly be the Jukebox’s least controversial (in terms of scores) entry yet? I bet it’s at least the one with the most 7s.
OMG that USA boxer outfit is beyond awful!