Daisy Dares You - 'Rosie'
I dunno about you, but unless something is going to be incredibly, immaculately perfect - and that's perfect by own particular standards, and probably no-one else's, not pristine in general - then I'd rather have quirks and oddities than blandness and smoothery. Music is a personal relationship after all. Far better to have that with a real functioning human, just like you.
This goes double if a song is being sold as a very personal message from one person to another, and the person doing the singing is hanging her hat on the fact that the person she is singing to is a close personal friend of hers, someone who knows her better than anyone, flaws and all.
It's the personal touch that sells the reality of the song, you see. Unless Daisy doesn't actually know anyone called Rosie at all and this is all an ELABORATE CON...
(. Grr! Pesky kids!)
Assuming this is not the case, 'Rosie' is the Daisy song that should make the most of her interesting way of pronouncing words - I swear at one point she sings about Rosie having "a pig-farm energy" - and her unique raspy squeak. It's got cute lyrics, which say a lot about a friendship without having to resort to rampaging sentiment or specific details that only Daisy and Rosie would get. And it's sing-song silly and lip-trembly sincere at the same time.
Of course, this won't be to everyone's taste. That's how it goes with quirks. One person's charming is another person's crisps-in-a-cut painful. Why, the thick layer of production mucous all over Daisy's voice, for example, is the kind of thing that makes me want to take the whole of modern music by the shoulders and shake it until its ears fall off.
My argument is this: she's got a unique voice, it's different from everyone else's! This should be a point of celebration, not a freaky blemish which you can hide by whacking it through autotune and occasionally turning all the treble off like the dance music producers do. It's lame, it's been done to death and it just gets in the way.
So, for the best experience of this song, go to a Daisy Dares You gig and get your fill, or buy a live version if such a thing becomes available. Under no circumstances get the studio recording, or you run the risk of encouraging more of this sort of thing, as producers tell each other it's a hit sound, and feel obliged to keep doing it, and that would be a shame.
Download: 28th June
´óÏó´«Ã½ Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
"Sounds like a great Avril Lavigne track fronted by someone a million times more intelligent ."
"Over a veritable blizzard of pop-punk fizziness, Daisy belts out an ode to the bezzie mate she's always going to be there for."
PS: Speaking of live performances, you should check out the new Live Lounge area of the Radio 1 site. It's rather swanky!
Comment number 1.
At 22nd Jun 2010, OddOne wrote:Well it's definitely better than 'Number One Enemy', which was ruined by Chipmunk. Whilst this song brings nothing new to the table, it's in fact rather harmless; a peppy, happy-go-lucky pop song that should bode well with a good lot of ears.
I'll give it 3 stars, because it's pretty average but it's nice to hear a fresh new voice with some clear talent.
Speaking of Daisy, I'm off to see if there's any developments with Avril Lavigne's new album... and Will Young's for that matter... his voice is yummy. ;)
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 23rd Jun 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:I'll take that job, OddOne. Avril was originally supposed to be releasing a single this month but is now waiting closer to the release date of her fourth album in September. The album will ditch the poppish, upbeat and immature melodies of her previous album The Best Damn Thing and will instead focus on more serious, acoustic stuff. I won't lie - all of Avril Lavigne's previous albums had me hooked and are my guilty pleasure. That woman sure knows how to write a hook filled pop song - be it upbeat, mid-tempo or a ballad. I'm annoyed at There Goes The Fear - Daisy didn't come across incredibly intelligent to me in any of her interviews and she so far has failed to deliver iconic songs like Complicated, Sk8er Boi and I'm With You, something Avril managed with her first three singles.
Number One Enemy and Rosie are catchy enough pop songs but they'll grate after a few weeks - plus they contain the two things that's wrong with modern day music today - pointless guest rappers and Auto-Tune.
Will Young, meanwhile, is currently touring the US. He performed his 2003 hit on the American Idol season finale and it made it to the grand old heights of #81.
OddOne, I think you should set up your own music blog. You clearly enjoy writing and searching for music related news and all your posts are informative and entertaining to read. You're also a very great writer.
I set up a music blog a few weeks ago and it got 50 views the other day. *cheers while tumbleweed flies past* If you ever want to make a guest contribution to by blog, I'd be glad to post it.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 23rd Jun 2010, OddOne wrote:Any time Randy, if you like, you can post the 'Alejandro' video interpreatation over there and maybe my review of the Sicssor Sister' new album 'Night Work'.
I'd be thrilled to contribute, Randy, I really would. :D
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 23rd Jun 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:Oh cool. I'm going to post your Night Work album review on my blog now. Already quoted your Alejandro video analysis in my post about the music video. Yeah!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)
Comment number 5.
At 23rd Jun 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:Oh and Harry, I'll post some of your excellent album reviews if you like also.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)
Comment number 6.
At 24th Jun 2010, kutox wrote:I like Daisy. You can tell a lot of people will hate her, and she does have a bit of an annoying voice, but there's something really authentic about her. She's a teenager enjoying her music and her lyrical themes are are very teen-oriented which I quite like - she's being honest and doing things how SHE wants to.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)
Comment number 7.
At 25th Jun 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:@ 5
Thanks
Complain about this comment (Comment number 7)
Comment number 8.
At 25th Jun 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:Actually think I'll will go back to album reviews but not on a weekly basis, I'll just review albums I'm interested in. I'll try and get a review out for Night Work next week.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 8)