The Singles Jukebox

Pop, to two decimal places.

Basic Element – Touch You Right Now

Basic by name…


[Video][Myspace]
[5.33]
 

Dave Moore: Precisely choreographed good vibes via Alcazar and a bit of goofy rapping via…I dunno, Marky Mark (hm, more good vibes…)? A fairly unstoppable Europop number, but there’s also something oddly restrained about it.
[6]

Martin Kavka: The chorus goes “I’ve got to touch you right now; try to keep it down so nobody hears.” What the fuck does that mean? Is it “Don’t be alarmed, but I have to touch you”? Or is it “Please put that can of mace back in your purse”? Or even perhaps “You’re really hot, but my friend at the bar tells me that you’re extremely loud in bed. That’s a real turnoff for me, but I wonder whether we might be able to work out a compromise, because I’m exceptionally horny, before I do you right here in public”? ‘Tis a puzzlement.
[4]

Hillary Brown: Rather loud, considering the message of the song, which is more than a little creepy, but awfully catchy for a song that could be Uncle Ernie’s theme.
[5]

Jessica Popper:This is a pretty conventional 21st century Eurodance song, but it’s one of the catchiest I’ve heard lately. For once, someone remembered to put in a hook! They’ve released 6 albums and 19 singles in Sweden, yet still they’re utterly unknown in the UK and have never had a top 40 hit. I think this cheery, energetic song could break that trend, if it was given the chance. The singer may be rather ugly, but the song is much better than what some of the young Swedish boy popstars are doing right now. The only problem is the weird, mumbly rap.
[8]

Ian Mathers: This kind of very basic, pro forma Eurodance music that seems to crop up perennially over there can go one of two ways: like the best meat-and-potatoes rock, it can be a surprisingly satisfying reminder of why a genre and its tropes are so successful, nourishing for its straightforward simplicity as much as anything else; or it can seem braindead and derivative, another example of why the genre and its tropes are basically bankrupt. From the robotized female voice intoning the title at the start to the awkwardly gruff rapping to the same goddamn synth setting everyone and their mother has used, Basic Element falls into the latter camp.
[3]

Additional Scores

M. H. Lo: [5]
Edward Okulicz: [7]
Martin Skidmore: [4]
Alex Wisgard: [6]

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