We give our writers a Dutch single, and, for some reason, their minds turn to coffee shops…
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[4.29]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: You’re on hold to Nespresso Customer Care: The Album! Your call is important to us.
[3]
Will Adams: This strikes me as the kind of song that would get propped up by Starbucks under the auspices of some “Artist to Watch” deal and receive a tonguebath solely because it reminded people enough of the last Starbucks song du jour that they could ignore the lazy singing and lazier rhymes (“yoyo/no-no,” anyone?). Also: those high strings are way too loud.
[4]
Iain Mew: Ignore producers with guest vocalists and Caro Emerald is the first continental European pop act to score a platinum album in the UK since… Scooter? All without a sniff of a hit single! It seems that Radio 2’s appetite for new Winehouse pop won’t be met by Paloma Faith alone. And Caro Emerald is much more likeable, lending a bright personality to the retro swing of “Tangled Up” and sounding at ease even when saddled with some clanging lines.
[6]
Scott Mildenhall: Emerald’s attempts at authoritative delivery of the lyrics here are a bit unfortunate, because they’re jarringly clumsy, and all the more noticeable because everything beyond them sounds rather rote. Maybe people more in tune with jazz might find more to enjoy (or dislike), but it just feels a lot like “On A Night Like This” and “That Man” again, but not as good. Perhaps, for a bit of variation, she could expand on the scratching sound effects and collaborate with Parov Stelar, or, preferably, Doop.
[5]
Alfred Soto: If you’re going try this kind of arch Nellie McKay-inspired music hall pop, sing as if you weren’t tripping on the words, and, right, scribble better lyrics than the chorus boasts. The synth washes and violin work, though. Not the scratching (!). That’s arch.
[3]
Anthony Easton: Tangled sounds like Tango’d and there is a definite tango vibe here. That and the yoyo joke make me forget Nellie McKay for a while.
[5]
Brad Shoup: Like all Emerald, this is an aural tourist trap. (Word to the jaw-dropping Z-grade covers of “Lucas With the Lid Off” on Spotify — I’m a believer.) There’s a really good dumb pop song encoded in the chorus, but you’ve got to put the cod-Porter and played-out vocal processing out of mind.
[4]