1. julia - as usual, i enjoy her vocal and the verses are very smooth. i wouldn't necessarily say i HATE that vocal shifted chorus, but i think it's ever so slightly overproduced and goes on for maybe 2 seconds longer than i would have liked it to (e.g. that vocal shift from 0:54-0:56 was a step too far)
2. buster shuffle - BRITISH INDIE ROCK!!! this might not be everyones cup of tea (and maybe the non-brits wouldnt actually understand the appeal in this whatsoever) but this is honestly just giving me EVERYTHING *waves the union jack in each hand*
3. SKYND - i don't even know what to say - i actually got the shivers FIVE fucking times while this was playing because i was THAT creeped out. i feel like i have just sold my soul to the devil??
4. cat - idk whether i'm being dramatic but two dark songs in a row is making me feel a certain type of way - i'm genuinely creeped out. anyway if i try to judge this song in isolation, i liked her monotone vocals and the song grew on me.
5. anteros - this has such a strong Parallel Lines era Blondie vibe to it. i really enjoyed this.
6. POESY - sounds like she drew inspiration from the stranger things soundtrack, style by taylor swift and your type by crj LMAO. i do like her voice, although the chorus was a little bit shouty in places. the song as a whole was sexy though.
7. quintino - we all know my feelings on female electropop/edm. much like almost every other song in this genre, its generic but fine and i assume the points this week will reflect that. i liked the punchy direction that the drop was intended to go in, but i wish the finished product sounded a bit more crisp? it sounded kinda noisey bc the mixing seemed off idk.
8. tenth avenue north - this didn't really have much of an impact on me at all. the whole thing sounded like it was reaching to something but never got there. it kinda reminds me of a more boring version of a contemporary westlife track.
9. DAY6 - mixing kpop and rock? this could be bibbles. i'm not completely sold on the punk kind of vibe this had to it, although this track does seem like one that would improve on repeated listens. i really liked the singers' passionate vocals, he is v talented.
10. eleni - LMAO ELENI FOUREIRA. this sounds really cheap actually. maybe i would appreciate it slightly more if she was in the video dancing, cus she is more of a performer to me, but even so i think this track is kind of unsavable.
11. labrinth - honestly, i think both zendaya and labrinth are both very capable talented singers. it's very rare that i ACTIVELY dislike songs in TSC but the instrumental was actually THAT unpleasant to my ears. it sounded like a bunch of professor lockhart's cornish fuckin pixies escaped their cage and stumbled into the recording studio to help giving backing vocals.
12. carlie - sounds the same as most other trap songs. her vocals sound kind of emotionless and lazy but i guess maybe thats what shes going for? this is okay.
13. CYN - this is really strong. it has an 80s influence yet still manages to sound very fresh and contemporary. her gentle vocals match the instrumental quite nicely too. im not 100% sold on her transition from chest voice to head voice at the end of the chorus, the 'believer out of me' part sounds forgettable/borderline annoying, but the product as a whole im definitely a fan of.
14. poppy - the instrumental sounds kinda cheap. it starts off quiet af so i turn it up and then it SUDDENLY KICKS INTO THE CHORUS AND ITS SO LOUD. lmao i got a shock. i give her credit for the concept of the song and for making me focus on the lyrics, which i guess was the main purpose of this song anyway.
15. ally - ive never been interested in ally but i tried to go in pretty open minded. perhaps unsurprisingly i found her vocals very weak here and the song very MOTR and generic.
16. rixton - the verses and chorus were very forgettable. the drop was kinda flat but i suppose it was the best bit and then i researched and found out that the drop is actually a sample of an 80s song :/
17. maydar - she's got an edgy vocal that i quite like. she's going for this twisted fairytale vibe and it actually kinda works for me. it's a decent enough track, yeah gl.
18. carly - the queen of pop apparently didn't just come here to dance. she came here to win also.
i usually find house so repetitive and boring but carly's personality shines thru so much on this track that it makes it exciting. the 'HEY JOES CALLING ME OVER. TINO IS CALLING ME OVER' part just sounds so playful & fun which seems to be lost in contemporary pop. i adored this.
19. ZAYDE - this has definitely grown on me with repeated listens. they make a few questionable instrumental choices throughout, but i appreciate the muse style sound they're going for.
20. delia - this is nice background music. i don't mean that in a rude way, it means that no part of it seems to hugely annoy me. it sounds good to me and she has a strong vocal.
21. wolf alice - okay so yeah i've heard this track a LOT of times over the last year and me & my uni friends are kinda obsessed with it. i suppose this song won't appeal to many ppl in this contest because it is very alternative and has more lyrical depth and complexity than the other songs here so will inevitably be dismissed for being 'edgy'. however, i find this song stunning and thought invoking. not meaning to write a pretentious english essay but to me the rapid fire verses PERFECTLY create some feelin of self-doubt/paranoia and the lyrics are rly fuckin smart and reflective. my point is: this song is very good yeah next
22. JOWST - this reminds me of a live lounge performance and they never seem to interest me. he is a very good singer, but it's a little bit dead.
23. VERIDIA - yeh i just find this kinda boring. every week ppl seem to obsess over songs of this nature but they're always just come off very average to me idk.
24. marcus & martinus - i thought this was going to be a much bigger mess than it ended up being. if i ignore the music video, i don't actually find it too annoying. i swear one of them sounds much more childish than the other who sounds a bit more mature?i it's generic but fine
25. vera - this was a bit of a serve. on my first listen i was really disappointed by the drop, but on repeats that part has definitely grown on me (even though the pitch shifted vocals on the 'its the way' part don't work on my ears). she has a good vocal and seems to be really in control throughout this track.