Will Young - 'Changes'
Is there some kind of third album jinx surrounding former Idol winners that we should be warning people about? Admittedly, I'm basing this pretty much entirely on Will Young and Kelly Clarkson, but as the two most famous Idol winners in UK chart terms, it's an interesting similarity. Not that either's third album was that unsuccessful, but they did both seem to underperform in comparison to their predecessors - particularly in the performance of the singles where Will is concerned, it being his first album not to yield a No.1 record.
I wondered if perhaps releasing a song like 'Switch It On' as the lead single was too much of a change of pace, and that put people off?
(You can watch the video in Big-O-Scope over at ...)
Anyway, the past is the past and I'm not being paid to talk about that (or indeed, at all). 'Changes' marks Will's return to Popsville after a two-year gap. Was it worth the wait? On the whole, I reckon.
I'll admit that when I first heard it, I was distinctly underwhelmed by it. I thought the chorus was weak and ineffectual, and that the song as a whole lacked oomph - forgive me if I'm blinding you with technical jargon here. But as much of a cop-out as it sounds, I think this one's a grower. My second listen left me involuntarily smiling while I was listening, my third had me humming along. And really, isn't that what a good song should do?
Will puts his lovely upper register to fine use in the middle eight, and his vocals on the chorus are honeyed and heartfelt, and what I took for weakness on my first listen now feels more like subtlety, which is an undervalued currency in pop, I reckon. So I hereby recant my initial assessment and declare this to be Really Quite Good.
Also, the video has a random moment where he lamps a farmer for no real reason, which amuses me. Tiny things and all that...
Download: Out now
CD Released: September 22nd
(Steve Perkins)
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