Among all the ’90s pop ditties, Torn by Australian actress-turned-singer Natalie Imbruglia has got to be one of those few iconic ones that never fails to inspire adults in their late twenties/early thirties to chant along as if their lives depended on it. Little did they know, though, that their beloved karaoke jam is actually a cover of a song by the LA alt-rock band Ednaswap. Imbruglia’s version is hands down the most popular, but it isn’t the only one that exists — the track was first recorded by Danish singer Lis Sorensen as Braendt (“Burn” in English), then by Endnaswap themselves followed by American-Norwegian singer Trine Rein.
With that little backstory behind her most successful single, it sort of makes sense that Male, Imbruglia’s first album since 2009’s Come To Life, is a pure and simple compilation of cover songs. And as you can probably glean from the title, the 12 tracks were originally written and performed by men. A feminist statement? Highly unlikely. A passable stopgap project masquerading as a new record? That’s more like it.
The lead single is a stripped down treatment of Daft Punk’s Instant Crush, a Random Access Memories cut featuring the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. It’s an OK attempt on Imbruglia’s part. (Although, to be fair, the original is impossible to improve on — Casablancas’ detached indie-rock drawl, heavily processed as it is, is part of the whole charm.) Her cover of Damian Rice’s Cannonball, on the other hand, lacks the raw emotions of the Irish troubadour, while her folk-inspired renditions of The Cure’s Friday I’m In Love and Modern English’s Melt With You are cringe-worthy to say the least.
Her covers of Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open the Door, Neil Young’s Only Love Can Break Your Heart and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ The Waiting are also lacklustre. Faring slightly better, however, are her takes on Josh Pyke’s The Summer, Death Cab for Cutie’s I Will Follow You into the Dark, Iron & Wine’s Naked As We Come and Zac Brown Band’s country classic Goodbye in His Eyes. On the latter, Imbruglia reminds us that she can more or less carry a tune (that falsetto is pretty bang-on).
Male is truly an eclectic compilation, and not in a good way. Apart from the unifying “male” concept, the compilation stumbles all over the place in terms of the song selection. While the more contemporary offerings (Instant Crush, I Will Follow You into the Dark) make perfect sense, most of the collection left us baffled. This may be presumptuous, but we just don’t think people who listen to Imbruglia are the same crowd as those who listen to the Zac Brown Band. In short, Male is not worth your time unless you’re an Imbruglia completist, in which case, by all means, go for it.
THE PLAYLIST
Seven Set/ I Hate You
Signed to the whimsically-named independent label She Likes the Bear Music, emerging Thai nu-metal duo Seven Set have dropped their first single, I Hate You. As you can probably tell
by the name, this is an angst-ridden ode to someone you’re
not particularly partial to. Letting rip his low-throated growl,
frontman Natt asserts, “Don’t tell me you love me, don’t even say you miss me/Don’t act like you care and getting all romantic because I don’t buy it.”
Foals/ Mountain At My Gates
Following roaring lead single What Went Down, Foals dials it down slightly with Mountain At My Gates, the second cut off their upcoming LP. Here, the Oxford quintet opts for a more palatable, lighter groove that builds to an infectious singalong chorus. “Oh, gimme some time/Show me the foothold from which I can climb/Yeah, when I feel low, you show me a signpost for where I should go,” frontman Yannis Philippakis sings over propulsive guitars and drums. Don’t get too comfortable though, because after a substantial degree of tameness, the song casually erupts in a face-melting outro. Well played, boys.
Melé/ Ambience
For a song that runs shorter than three minutes, Melé’s new cut, Ambience, packs one hell of a punch. Rapturous tribal drums kick things right off from the get-go, with an unidentified female vocalist hollering, “You can do it, baby/Come on, get down!” A cowbell then chimes in, and suddenly the whole thing is turned into a massive street carnival in our ears. The song is testament to the fact that sometimes it really is a simple idea that works the most efficiently.
Ciara/ Dance Like We’re Making Love
Dance Like We’re Making Love marks Ciara’s second single from her latest record, Jackie. True to Ciara’s sonic aesthetics, the song is a sensual R&B number that sees her crooning her way through the snappy beats courtesy of famed hitmaker Dr Luke, the producer behind some of the biggest pop hits over the past few years including Katy Perry’s California Gurls and Teenage Dream, Britney Spears’ Hold It Against Me and Jessie J’s Price Tag. Here, Ciara gives it to us straight: “If you’re down just maybe, we dance like we’re making babies/As soon as our song comes on/’Cause boy we got all night long.”
Kurt Vile/ Pretty Pimpin’
There’s always a certain charming country-folk flow to Kurt Vile’s music, and Pretty Pimpin’ is no exception. Taken from his forthcoming sixth studio album, B’lieve I’m Goin Down…, the breezy track finds the singer-songwriter struggling to recognise his own reflection, crooning “I woke up this morning, didn’t recognise the man in the mirror/I laughed and I said, ‘Oh silly me, that’s just me’.” As he weaves in and out of the haze of his own identity crisis, the lyrics remain tongue in cheek throughout, and with the hilarious kicker where he concludes that the stupid clown sporting all his clothes actually looks “pretty pimpin’ ”.
