Slow Pineapple – Our Ode to Al Pacino
Old hipsters were much cooler than modern hipsters and looked like they put much less work into their act. Take the great Fun Lovin’ Criminals, for example. I don’t see them wax poetically about their beard oil and exported coffee beans for hours on end.
Slow Pineapple sound like those kinds of free spirits, people with endless knowledge about things that have fallen out of favour, go underappreciated, or combinations that simply never quite go together. They also seem to possess a fair degree of humour, the real kind, not the ironic one meant to get everyone confused, with inside jokes designed to keep outsiders at a distance. Our Ode to Al Pacino is that kind of 90s novelty rock tune.
While a great song and easy to like for a variety of reasons, the song is a blatant attempt to stick as many references to one of the silver screen’s greatest actors, although the lyricist wonders of the trail occasionally. This is a humorous, slow, urban alt-rock number. Very enjoyable.
Douglas – Cigarettes
Singer Douglas has been dipping her toes into the mysterious and much appreciated modern world of synthpop. It is only now that the artist is venturing into the world of music as a solo artist. If Cigarettes is any indicator of the direction that she is about to follow, her work promises to quickly gain an audience.
For all its artificial, disconnected glory, synth-pop requires two things more than anything. First of all, it needs excellent production that can be blasted through the biggest, most elaborate sound systems clubland has to offer. Secondly, in order to set apart from the pack, the writing needs to be sharp and capable of setting a hazy, mysterious mood. With only her first effort, Douglas has been able to check both those boxes.
Slow and danceable as it is, Cigarettes manages to squeeze some convincing distorted electric guitar into the mix. Just like the vocals though, it is worked in a way where it only adds a fresh shade to an already alluring picture. If this is the sound of modern pop music, we’re in better hands than many cynics may have originally thought.
