EOIN BUTLER's guide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams
Boyzone
Gave it Away
Polydor
**
That the Boyz are paying musical tribute to their late friend and bandmate Stephen Gately with this belated release is hardly surprising. That they have elected to do so through the medium of reggae-lite, however, is something of a bolt from the blue. Gatley’s vocals on the song (written by Mika and recorded in 2007) include some morbidly prescient lines about mortality. The video mixes archive footage of the late singer with new footage of his surviving friends’ grief. The result is by turns mawkish, touching and (thanks to that weird UB40 vibe) slightly surreal.
Owl City
Fireflies
Universal Republic
**
Already a No 1 single on both sides of the Atlantic, Firefliescould be described as the missing link between Boards of Canada and The Jonas Brothers. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Well, it isn't.
She & Him
In the Sun
Double Six
***
If Scarlett Johansson's music career has proven anything, it's that even the snootiest critics can be swayed by good looks and Hollywood star power. Zooey Deschanel's may not be of comparable wattage, but the same phenomenon seems to apply. The twin pillars that underpin this track are Deschanel's flimsy vocals and a piano riff that recalls the theme from the original The Italian Job. But neither, really, is worth writing home about.
Keith Mullins
Across the Ocean***
The Galway singer-songwriter is currently touring around Ireland and will support The Saw Doctors in Dublin’s Olympia on February 27th. www.keithmullins.com
BP Fallon
I Believe in Elvis Preasley
Third Man Records****
"I'm not against a little darkness, I'm not against a little sin." Jack White's Third Man label is resurrecting the spoken (in this case, very well spoken) genre with a series of idiosyncratic releases, this latest gem coming from our own BP Fallon. The Shimmy Marcus-directed, Subterranean Homesick Blues-referencing video, meanwhile, features cameos from rock legends Bobby Gillespie, Kevin Shields and,er, Gemma Hayes.
