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Hellogoodbye - 'Here In Your Arms'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:08 UK time, Sunday, 6 May 2007

hellogoodbye_100.jpgImagine a world where *NSYNC still existed. Now imagine that not only were they their usual amazing selves but that they had an army of indie kids buoying them towards amazing levels of fame and success. And that they had called their album 'Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!'

That is quite some world, huh?

The good news is that this is not merely some crazed daydream I am dangling before you, only to snatch away cackling madly at your crushing disappointment, but something which Hellogoodbye, God bless them, have taken upon themselves to realise. Yes, OK, none of them are as fit as JC Chasez but you can't have everything and in a world where pop music is hated and derided by people with wobbly hair and guitars, it's nice to hear someone pointing out that just because you perform it live with your own instruments, music doesn't have to only have three chords. This is all done on guitar, bass, keyboard and drums and yet manages to sound like the most sparkling pop a team full of producers and thousands of pounds of studio equipment could produce. In your face, the Twang.

The lyrics are cutely romantic without getting sickly and the rest is upbeat enough to make it irresistably danceable without being cheesy or irritating and from the gentle, almost-synthy beginning it builds into a massive ball of sheer, unadulterated glee.

"What?" you say, "This sounds like the perfect summer pop song to accompany barbecues, long car journeys, lying on the beach, everyone getting a bit cross and having to go and have a lie down, cocktails, finding out the freezer's broken down, spending the rest of the day eating ice cream as a consequence and literally ANYTHING ELSE that might happen in the next four months," and you would be exactly right. So go and put on some shorts and dance around before it gets too hot to move.

Five starsDownload: Out now
CD Released:
May 14th

(Hazel Robinson)

Comments

  1. At 05:27 PM on 06 May 2007, martin wrote:

    i adore this song, it's a perfect mixture of electro, indie and pop. suitable for summer, winter, parties, or just chilling on your own; has to be #1

  2. At 05:54 PM on 06 May 2007, wrote:

    Okay, funny review.. but..

    The rating? It's good, but it come on.. 5 stars? Seriously? It's not really an especially new sound or anything..

    And sure, they might be able to do it live. In fact they were the 3rd support for All American Rejects when I saw them last week. But I can't really give them points for that seeing as both the other supports (Boys Like Girls and The Audition) outclassed them by miles. I won't even compare them to the Rejects, it wouldn't be fair to either of them.

    5 stars is your max rating.. it should be reserved for songs of pure genius.

    [Thanks Kat. I'll be sure and tell Hazel. Five good, one bad....five good, one bad.... - Fraser]

  3. At 07:57 PM on 06 May 2007, wrote:

    Are you MOCKING me?! :O

    [All in good fun tho. :-) Fraser]

  4. At 08:09 PM on 06 May 2007, wrote:

    Oh never mind I probably deserved it.. I was doing the condescending thing again wasn't I? I'll stick to my point, but sorry for the slightly tetchy delivery of it..

    [Heh! It's a fair point though. It's just that a five-star review can either try and put a new song up against all the other songs released ever, in which case you never get to use the damn rating, or it can capture the excitement of being totally in love with a song at that precise moment, not knowing if you'll still feel the same way in an hour, let alone a year, and kind of risking making a fool of yourself in the process. I prefer that approach, cos it's true to the spirit of NOW, and that's very pop. And again, it's totally subjective. Personally I don't like this song all that much, so my review would have been very different. Doesn't mean Hazel's is in any way flawed though. That's the brilliance of subjective opinion. - Fraser]

  5. At 09:00 PM on 06 May 2007, wrote:

    I know what you mean and that does seem fair. I wasn't criticizing her opinion (I like the song) as much as being an idealist when it comes to rating.
    See for me a 5 star song should make you want the world to stop spinning just for a few minutes so you could hear it that bit better. That's what I meant by genius. It's not about comparing it to history, it's kinda more like the Morrissey charisma thing?
    You can be totally in love with a song for a year and it might still never make you feel that way. The kinda song I'm talking about you don't just WANT to hear.. you NEED to hear it. And you might stop listening to it regularly after a while but if you did hear it down the line you'd pick right back up where you left off, they ever really leave you. Now did ANY of that make any sense whatsoever?

    [Yep. It all did. And you're right. Did you read Hazel's review of Jamie T? That's how she feels about 'Sheila'. I think in this case the 5 stars just comes from the excitement of the now, which is another and equally valid reason for giving a 5 star rating. There's no hard or fast rules to this, it's all instinctive, innit? - Fraser]

  6. At 10:24 PM on 06 May 2007, Kerri wrote:

    i so agree about the 5 star thing, im starting to think youv all gone soft! 3 5 star tracks in 3 days... well, tomorow is a different day but for a change will it be bringing with it a different rating?....we shall see

    [Yeah, but the one before that was 2-stars! I'd be concerned if all the reviews were by the same people, but it was one by me and two by Hazel. I daresay Hazel wouldn't have given RHCP five stars and I KNOW I wouldn't have given Hellogoodbye five stars. Jamie T deserves everything he gets though. As for tomorrow, wait and see! - Fraser]

  7. At 10:50 PM on 06 May 2007, wrote:

    Aye I read it. I read everything as soon as I see it on my RSS ticker lol. Which I really must turn off until after exams because I'm also reading -everything- on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ news site in a procrastination attempt. It's the downside to being chained to the net for revision.

    I know you're right (as per, eh? :P). Giving the two types of song the same rating still seems a bit off to me but hey, there are only 5 stars!

    And now possibly time for me to stop commenting before I turn ChartBlog into my own little rant-fest.

    G'day to yas ;)

  8. At 12:04 AM on 07 May 2007, Jen wrote:

    i absolutly adore hellogoodbye & have done so since they signed to their record label a few years back. it's so good to see them getting some uk recognition at last!

  9. At 12:21 AM on 07 May 2007, Kerri wrote:

    i wait in nervous anticipation! no, really!
    hmmm i dont thnk RHCP deserved 5, as for jamie t i listened to it but i just dont seem to connect with it. this song doesnt deserve 5 either but its better than the chillis, not that i like either overly i just thought that these guys were different and deserved some credit for that atleast. i can imagine them doing well so good luck to them. and oh yeah, jojo doesnt even deserve 2 stars, shes such a bad example and shares the name of my dog! :O name snatcher tut tut whats the world coming to. . .

  10. At 10:50 AM on 07 May 2007, Runes wrote:

    This song is the bees knees. You can't help but sing it with the roboty inflection.

    But I really like it because there's a bit of the song which sounds like the music played when Bill and Ted find themselves in modern day San Dimas with the totally cool dudes playing air guitar.Check it out

  11. At 01:19 PM on 11 May 2007, Danielle wrote:

    i think its an enjoyable song.

    but somehow it makes me sad :-(

    probably just me.

  12. At 08:23 PM on 15 May 2007, sophie wrote:

    wot a beauty song =)
    luvvvit!!!

  13. At 08:32 PM on 16 May 2007, nicola wrote:

    i think this song is classic and will be a big hit for dance remixs, so watch this space and be prepared to eat ur words
    cutes not the word
    ace is
    im a huge dance and pop fan and to find a alternative music song that is listenable and likeable is unusual and i can only gather from the huge interest this song has created that it is well going down very well
    so please dont talk badly of things that might not nescecerially be based upon ur own musical preferences or genres
    tar very much
    and good night!
    :-P

  14. At 09:31 PM on 16 May 2007, Hanifa wrote:

    Bin ages since i herd this song ....bort back memories ........gud ones at that #.

    AWWWW they ARE beautiful

  15. At 11:36 PM on 16 May 2007, wrote:

    Ach but it's more fun to leap in and trash something than be all accepting of everything. Music would be a very boring place if no one cared enough to argue.

  16. At 06:09 PM on 26 May 2007, Delphine wrote:

    gd song chris dont think so tho wheres his version???dead funny!
    Del
    x

  17. At 10:02 PM on 09 Aug 2007, wrote:

    why does the vid for this remind me of napoleon dynamite???

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