Top of the Dutch charts via a French city and a Surinamese singer…
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[5.20]
Megan Harrington: Imagine it’s a pleasant, temperate, and still summer evening. At sunset you grab the biography you’re a quarter of the way through and head to your enclosed backyard porch. Beyond it is a sprawling green lawn and a row of large trees to mark the end of your property. You’re screened in so citronella isn’t necessary — you light a sandalwood candle and press play on “Parijs,” crack your book open and relax.
[7]
Micha Cavaseno: Super saccharine tapioca blandness Franti-styled hip-pop, with some papier-mâché Eiffel Tower prop in the background.
[2]
Katherine St Asaph: The second European act this year to remind me vividly of Barenaked Ladies, this time “Pinch Me”; that’s something, I think. Does a nice job of erasing the association with Kenny G too. Like Melendi, this is perfectly pleasant, laid-back if-you-don’t-give-a-fuck-why-should-I strumming, but there are some nice silken harmonies under there. (I just made you say underwear.)
[5]
Alfred Soto: This pleasant summer strummer, co-written by the Surinamese-Dutch singer, goes through its paces, confident that it’ll get audiences humming the chorus.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: Like John Mayer at his prettiest and least-annoying — though I imagine if I were more fluent in French, I might find this equally annoying. But I’m not.
[5]
Ramzi Awn: Je parle un petit peu Francais aussi, mais je n’aime pas beaucoup le DMB. Bien essaye.
[4]
Brad Shoup: So she looks like two singers and a model, huh? The guitarwork’s giving off major adult alternative vibes — the Script’s “Breakeven,” specifically. Kenny’s working a whole range from lovestruck to mildly unsettled; maybe he should keep his first dates out of tourist traps.
[5]
Iain Mew: My favourite line of Kenny B’s language mix-up romantic comedy is the kinda-rapped “Ik zag haar zo verlegen lachen”; his ease with the harder sounds of Dutch making for a contrast to the French bits that lights up with the joy of shared familiarity. I didn’t expect to like something that reminds me of Ed Sheeran’s “Lego House” so much, and it doesn’t last as he reaches further into the future, and the “je t’aime”s, and fromage. Its a shame, because his take on the just about plausible ten-second conversation is sweetly observed enough to carry a whole song.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: The chorus saves this, its heart-racing excitement multiplied by the backing vocals. The rest of it, though, is a little too easygoing, though it makes the hooks all the better.
[5]
Abby Waysdorf: More affable than remarkable, but it’s not really difficult to see why “Parijs” has been such a hit. It hits at multiple groups — adult-alternative acoustics, Dutch-language with a singalong chorus, a Surinamese reggae singer on a hip-hop label — and its breezy charm in the mild spring and early summer feels right. It’s a bit better if you don’t understand or pay attention to anything outside the chorus, but who needs to do that anyway?
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