Why yes, I would like some Europop with many many “sh” sounds, thanks.
[Video][Website]
[5.43]
Nortey Dowuona: Nice synths, flat drums, pedestrian bass and piano from 2012. Also, Helene’s singing feels too insubstantial…or just too low for this cotton candy production.
[4]
Alfred Soto: The market for this chugging instance of Europop will never shrivel, no matter how modish (trop house accents, what else is new).
[5]
Ian Mathers: The whole thing feels a little… airless. Squeaky clean. Like it’s just about to take off but never really makes it. It’s pleasant enough while it plays, but fades near instantly once its done.
[5]
Kat Stevens: I have a phobia of the physical sensation of non-uniform acceleration, viz. planes, lifts that go too fast, going over speed bumps when I’m not the person driving, space travel, inner ear infections and of course rollercoasters. Having watched this self-help video I had felt more equipped to handle both the metaphorical version (by repeating meaningless mantras to myself) and the literal version (by sticking my hands out as wide as possible to increase drag and reduce speed) but “Acterbahn”‘s empty plodding beat and inane synth hook has undone all that hard work, and I’m right back to cowering in a corner hugging my knees.
[2]
Dorian Sinclair: I looked up Helene Fischer to confirm she’d had formal voice training, but honestly sometimes you just know. That’s both a good and bad thing — I’m a classically-trained singer myself, but it’s a style that sometimes sits uneasy with the expectations of a pop song. Here, though, it works, and she manages to capture a real sense of yearning even against the aggressively upbeat accompaniment.
[8]
Edward Okulicz: While I count down the weeks until Eurovision pre-selections take place, this clean, clinical German schlager dance-pop number will make some of the minutes go a little quicker. Fischer is totally slumming it in surroundings this cheap, but sometimes I down an alcopop and dance to low quality pap, and why shouldn’t the artist enjoy it too? And that inhuman squall throughout the track is like a disco version of the end of M83’s “Midnight City” or Sofia de la Torre’s “Vermillion,” which I love.
[7]
Alex Clifton: A delightfully big, EDM/Eurovision-y number that feels exactly how it sounds. I’m a sucker for bright, spangly pop, and this delivers in spades. Helene Fischer’s voice is resoundingly clear over the electronic background; her delivery is polished, but it’s lovely to listen to something and get the feeling from it without needing an exact translation. This is the sort of song where I can imagine going to the club and feeling the world fall away for three minutes while screaming along (in really butchered German). I’m not sure if this is actually as good as I think it is, or if I’ve just felt so starved for enthusiastic, escapist pop; either way, I find myself wonderstruck. If the world’s on fire, I’ll dance to this in the flames.
[7]