Album title of the year? Yes. Former Idol winner and future Melodifestivalen participant Agnes Carlsson is back with her third album, ‘Dance Love Pop’. And not just in Sweden. The album has received a worldwide release and is even available to buy on UK iTunes, despite no intentions to promote anywhere outside of Scandinavia in the near future. Such a move is unusual but actually quite sensible, and certainly interesting. With no plans to take her internationally, but with the internet meaning that music fans can learn about and listen to the music being released outside their own country, the only option sometimes is for them to obtain the music illegally. Obviously a lot of people will still go down this route with the new Agnes album, but with the release of the album on iTunes, there will be lots of pop fans happy to purchase the album legally. And the makers of the album will get a few more pounds on their royalty cheques. It’s not going to make any sort of dent on the UK album charts (the album’s first single ‘On And On’ was released in the UK in August and didn’t trouble the charts either), but it’s there for sale to anyone who wants it. So there.
And as for the album itself? It’s very very good! As you’d hope from reading the title, it’s a lot more dance orientated than her previous two albums. Which is a huge relief to us – we were all prepared to hear another R&B album after taking a peak at her top friends on myspace (Beyonce. Ne-Yo? John Legend?!?!?!?). There are still a few ballads and R&B-lite tracks on there, but they’re good so that’s fine. The first few songs on the album include the quite brilliant lead single ‘On And On’, a short and sweet dancey little number called ‘How Do You Know’, and the album’s BEST track, the string laden disco stormer ‘Release Me’. And also another disco song called ‘Love Me Senseless’, which while we’re well aware that it’s probably a good song and will be a lot of people’s favourite, we can’t quite get just yet. Track 5 gives us the album’s first ballad, ‘I Need You Now’. It sounds like one of the stronger tracks from her last album, which is a good thing. And the backing track is semi dramatic and well produced. ‘Look At Me Now’ rescues the album’s tempo and is a disco-lite anthem, which as the title suggests, is a two fingers to someone or something which held her down before and that she’s now stonger without. Sony BMG perhaps?! ‘Don’t Pull Your Love Out’ is dancehall meets schlager and sounds like Jamaica being allowed to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. Yes, THAT good! It’s followed by electro eighties pastiche (yes they’re still being done) ‘Open Up Your Eyes’ and the album’s closing ballads ‘Sometimes I Forget’ (atmospheric and with a beautiful melody) and ‘Big Blue Wall’ (atmospheric and with a beautiful melody). Short, with ten tracks in all, and very sweet.
So there you go! You can stream it to judge for yourselves here; http://www.lixgraphics.se/agnesecard/. And then go and buy it on iTunes! And THEN come along to the next scandipop club night where we’ll be playing the best tracks from the album.
