The Song Of The Week is Thinking Bout Me by Cecily.
In a busy week for above-average releases, it's ambitious introspectionbanger Thinking Bout Me, the debut release from New Zealand's Cecily, that feels most like a superstar-has-landed moment. Cecily says she wrote the song at the end of 2017: it was something she needed to hear, and something she thought other people might need to hear too. At one point it veers into Twinkle Twinkle Little Star because, quite frankly, why not? If I can find her address I might send her an email later: say hello, find out what she's playing at, get to the bottom of 'pre-anticipating', that kind of thing. Good idea? No: GREAT IDEA.
Additional notes:
- Too Much finds Carly Rae 'Rae' Jeppo McJepsen getting back on track. Noonie Bao pops up as a co-writer.
- Justin and Ed's I Don't Care, with Max Martin on co-production duties, is the year's least eventful event record.
- Xenomania's busy 2019 continues today with the launch of Paige Cavell and her rave piano-stuffed debut single Predators & Monsters. I've met Paige a few times on trips down to Xenomania HQ and whenever she's in the room there's a real sense that you're In The Presence Of A Popstar which, well, it's not something you can take for granted.
- Eden xo's Sorry For Myself is a song about popstars making everything feel better. And do you know what, sometimes they do, don't they?
- On the other hand there's Meghan Trainor, whose Badass Woman — from the soundtrack of that new Anne Hathaway / Rebel Wilson film — is at once 70% brilliant and 60% awful, which puts it at +10%. A success!
- I'm not saying the Zayn and Zhavia Ward take on A Whole New World drags or feels like it might never end, but by the second chorus I was starting to panic about my Christmas shopping.