Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – From Above

At my desk the other day I was listening to the fabulous BBC 6 Music when this song hurtled down the wires of my earphones sending pulses of pleasure throughout my being. I hadn’t been paying much attention before so I was suffering some form of brain atrophy and any song that can break through the indifference barrier is worthy of further investigation.

Once I’d got my bearings on the stream, I found it was a collaborative effort between Ben Folds (the music) and Nick Hornby (the lyrics). Which on paper, is like the wet dream of a hipster kid from 1995. A year that saw Ben Folds Five release their amazing debut album and Hornby had the musically themed High Fidelity published.

Taken from the forthcoming album Lonely Avenue the song opens with a quick roll of the drums and bounces along blissfully into the best pop song I’ve heard since Darwin Deez Radar Detector. Driven by Folds on the piano and teeming with synth embellishments in all the right places, it becomes very difficult not have it whirring around your head for the rest of the day.

Lyrically the song is a distinctly Hornby monologue. A daydream of two people who don’t realise they are soul mates. Comfortable in their current relationship and have no desire to search for a fairytale ending. Folds delivers Hornby’s words with gusto and is ably supported by female vocalist Kate Miller Heidke, who provides the soft edges to the track.

The sum of these parts creates a truly memorable pop song that is reminiscent of Jens Lekmans work and leaves me hoping that the rest of the album can match up to this high standard.

You can buy the Single “From Above” on iTunes and the album Lonely Avenue is out on September 28^th

From Above.mp3

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Lost Saint

In 2009 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart released a self titled album that I literally became addicted to. Listening to it is like basking in a hot and hazy summer day of shoegaze pop. Each song, crafted with meticulous care, was riddled with deeply intelligent and melancholy lyrics about young love and growing into adulthood. Such are the depths to be found in their music, anyone who dared brand the band could a mere copycat of the late 80's early 90's sound that they love, can only be described as a nincompoop.

And so when I was scouring Hype M and found two news songs from this Brooklyn band I was excited. Taken from the "Say No to Love" single (which is also excellent) Lost Saint details a youngster in love from within a Catholic education upbringing. Being branded sinful for confessing your feelings of forbidden love,  sympathising with the famed lover Heloise and her plight, knowing that she'd understand how you feel.

Its this sort intelligent output which make the band nothing short of astounding. I just hope the second album can live up to what has gone before.

Lost Saint.mp3
If you like what you hear please support the band by buying there first album here