So then, Anna Abreu’s fourth album, ‘Rush’, has already produced two rather fantastic singles – the uptempo ‘Hysteria’ and the down-tempo ‘Worst Part Is Over’. HOWEVER, there’s one song on there that we really want to bring to everyone’s attention, as it’s actually the best thing she’s ever done. And calling it a career high is no small praise, given how great her previous album ‘Not Just A Pretty Face?’ was.
The song is called ‘Stereo’ and it’s an up-tempo number. It starts off sounding like the first few seconds of Same Difference’s version of ‘Turn It Into Love’, so naturally we were pretty much hooked right away! What follows though is charmingly clever pop song that combines a satisfying production, a catchy melody, and great lyrics. It’s one of those songs that forms that sub-genre of pop that we all like – broken hearted lyrics on top of an up-tempo pop production, or the “tears on the dancefloor” term that’s been coined for it recently. Lyrically it’s been built around the main line in the chorus; “my stereo don’t play love songs at all”. Anna’s man has left her, and thus so has all music containing any reference to love. The message culminates in the middle eight with the brilliant line; “the DJ has left for the day, I think you’re the person to blame”. And that’s a little bit Wow.
As always though, it’s the melody that attracts us the most. And ‘Stereo’ has got a killer one, particularly during the chorus which heavily uses a repetitive “oh-oh”-style vocal riff to great effect, replacing the “oh-oh” with “at all”. Highly infectious stuff indeed. And as for the production, well it’s positively BELL-TASTIC! The bells are joined by a bizarre but amazing brass riff, and copious amounts of big synths and beats also of course.
It’s truly a great song that gets better and better with each listen, as you discover more things about it. But don’t just take our word for it;
