Chart Review: 19th July 2024
Making sense of a nation’s musical tastes.
A decent amount to get through this week, plenty of which is more than suitable for the hottest day of the year thus far. At (39) is “Move” by some or all of Adam Port, Stryv, and Keinemusik (this is how it’s credited on the chart itself, though the latter is a German record label to which Adam Port is signed; the chart website isn’t exactly scrupulous when it comes to spell checking etc), with vocals, as best I can tell, by Malachiii. This is pretty good! With the temperatures on the rise, I could easily see my way clear to bopping this one on. I know nothing whatsoever of afrohouse, but the beat’s nicely programmed without being overwhelming, and the keyboards are super lush and sultry. It smacks of genuine effort; there’s plenty of texture and movement. Slightly depressingly, on YouTube it’s hashtagged #tiktokmusic, but I suppose that’s the business these days. Not a ton of substance to speak of, but very endearing production.
The Euros may have come to a close, but they’re having a final say on the charts, with Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” re-entering at (36). This is due to an England chant concerning Phil Foden, which I would like to grouse about for a bit. The fans replace “this gun’s for hire” with “Phil Foden’s on fire” - fine, but they’ve kept the opening “can’t start a fire” line, so you’re rhyming fire with fire, which is shit. It always makes me laugh when football chants don’t bother changing half the words, too. The first two lines have nowt to do with Phil Foden or football or the Euros or really anything positive.
The song itself is, of course, an unstoppable classic. Famously it was, I believe, the last song recorded for Born In The USA after Springsteen’s label feared the record lacked a hit. It’s not my favourite Bruce era - I’m not overly keen on some of the keyboard sounds, which heavily date it, though you can’t argue with the songs itself - but I’m always impressed by his ability to squeeze brutally sad or heavy material into songs that are aesthetically upbeat or poppy. “Born In The USA” itself is the most obvious example, but the bleak lyrics about depression layered into this boppy singalong are a reminder that Springsteen’s one of the least compromised artists of his generation.
At (15) is Ice Spice featuring Central Cee (who’s quietly enjoying a banner year as both main and featured artist) with “Did It First”. I think this is the first time I’ve heard Spice’s music (unfortunately I likely first heard of her when 1975 frontman and cartoon rat Matty Healy got in the news for chuckling along to some racist comments about her on some shit podcast), though I knew her first album was dropping shortly. If this is what the whole album’s going to be like, you can consider me interested. This is a two minute sprint with funny petulant lyrics about infidelity, a lovely vocal hook, and heavy booming bass. Cee, meanwhile, seems to have a super useful ability to get onto the vibe of whoever’s song he’s featuring on while maintaining his own style. I don’t know who the last British rapper was to crack the US, but he’s going the right way about it. It seems the dude who produced this is the son of Biggie’s DJ, so we’re talking NYC royalty here, sort of.
Eminem’s latest LP has bestowed him with a further two tracks on the UK Top 40, with “Renaissance” and “Habits” at (13) and (11) respectively. Whenever a new record drops and sends a selection of songs into the charts, it’s always interesting to see where they sit on the album and, yep, these are the first two songs. They’re a mixed bag to say the least. “Renaissance” is easily the best thing I’ve heard from this album so far. Mathers takes a rare less-is-more approach, choosing wisely to spend just 100 seconds purely spitting. He’s still in bitter old man mode, giving over far too many bars to hating on the haters, but he actually proves why he’s worth listening to here, demonstrating his technical dexterity while still getting off a few decent bars and comparing himself to Mark Twain, which is bold but different, at least.
“Habits”, meanwhile, is the other side of the coin. It’s five tedious minutes of what passes for shock value in this weird bloke’s mind, with lyric after lyric about how much offence he’s caused and how he gets criticised for saying stuff that would be OK if it was on South Park and how he’s going to say it anyway and that’s that! For a guy who’s ostensibly trying to kill off his Slim Shady alter ego, he’s desperate to return to the days when Eminem was in any way controversial, and not an elder statesman of rap whose power to shock dwindled decades ago. He even gets in a few digs at Caitlyn Jenner, which is about as hack as it gets. Dross.
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” is at the top once again, with “Please Please Please” at (2). The former is now one week away from beating Noah Cahan’s “Stick Season” as the longest reigning Number One of 2024 thus far. I hope it does, though when I heard that one again the other week, I was reminded that, aside from the odd really bad lyric, it’s a pretty decent song, glad as I am that I’ll never have to hear it again.
Pick of the week: Bruce Springsteen - “Dancing In The Dark”
