#530-#526

#530. Tones And I - Johnny Run Away (#26, 2019)

48th of 2019

There's a tedious part of music discourse that rears itself whenever literally any new artist emerges. Cynicism surrounds it all and the need to dismiss it as part of a planned scheme rather than anything resembling groundswell. There's reason to go along with it. Every success comes about through a baton pass between fans on differing levels of engagement. The largest portion always sits in the last step of the chain, anyone who will never hear from anyone until they've already 'made it'. It's where I imagine a lot of this punditry comes from, because by that point you're resigning yourself to be that dismissive bystander. I think the baton pass chain still exists but it feels so precarious, messing around with the ratios does have the chance to break it, and the more chart companies start to fiddle with the composition of the charts, the more it feels like admission that the system won't just run on its own engine.

Anyway that's all just funny to think about because it still doesn't feel like that long ago that you could just expect to hear new artists break out, make a serious name for themselves, and become a chart mainstay for years, even on just a local level. Tones And I might just be the last Australian artist to really do that properly. The Kid LAROI & Dom Dolla have of course come along afterwards, but I'm talking about an artist whose chart fortunes are especially primed in Australia, the long lost art of Australian hit songs that no one else around the world has heard of. Tones And I has had it both ways, but "Johnny Run Away" is the absolute extreme: A song that spent a solid year on the Australian Spotify chart while never appearing for any other country. It was obviously overshadowed to an extreme degree just as it was hitting its stride, causing it to fall a bit by the wayside. Not many Australian songs will land more than 10 places higher on the ARIA Chart than the Hottest 100, for instance. It even came close on the ARIA End Of Year chart, as this evidently brushed aside single was still the 32nd biggest hit of the year.

That in itself is the most peculiar thing about this song. Tones And I obviously has a very notable single waiting in the wings and pretty much her entire career lives in its spectre. Any hit she had going forward (and there were quite a few), has you wondering if it ever would have gotten anywhere on its own merits. You cannot do this with "Johnny Run Away" because this is the single that got the ball rolling in the first place. Much like I'm prone to saying about Gotye's worldwide success with "Somebody That I Used To Know", I'm inclined to ponder things in the other direction. What would become of that megahit of hers if "Johnny Run Away" hadn't generated the anticipation. If we go back to thinking about that baton pass and how generally less singles charge their way into the charts nowadays, I don't think it's unfair to invite the possibility that the ball might stop rolling before it reaches the turbo ramp. Maybe there are many other artists who were one "Johnny Run Away" from superstardom. It's easy to say this because we haven't seen an Australian single chart that high in nearly 2 years now. You get the feeling that Tones And I came in at the end, the best is over.

It would be fun to imagine another side of this as well. The idea that this is also a Tones And I song that was able to be judged on its own merits, free from the stigma that would arrive in just a couple of months. I'd be lying to myself if I thought this was the case though, because I was very aware of the Tones And I backlash from the very beginning. It was smaller and more localised, but absolutely there, the excitement of a new local act breaking through outweighed by 'wtf is wrong with her voice' and things of that nature. I'll no doubt have more to say for a later entry, but it was the early signs of something that got a whole lot more rotten as the audience reach of Tones And I grew. 

With all that in mind, it's very interesting that this is the song that got Tones And I up and running. It's a song about a friend of hers who was bullied for being homosexual, and for Tones And I, the only response is for him to just get away from it all. As I'm writing this I've been watching the show "Six Feet Under" which to me serves as a reminder of how much things have changed in the 21st Century. The show's creator is gay, and two of the lead characters are an on-again, off-again gay couple. Many of their conflicts arise from their differing perspectives where Keith is usually comfortable with who he is but David is constantly harassed by mental demons and intrusive thoughts. I often feel like the show sees homophobia in America as inevitable and not worth fighting, and I get the same weird feeling in this song. Here, Tones And I suggests that her friend shouldn't get to be himself and keep it hidden. There's no 'oh, but the future is bright', it's just a story without a happy ending. Tones And I did bring the friend in question on stage while performing this song later down the track, so I guess if we extend beyond the text, there is that. Apparently Tones And I wrote this song when she was still a teenager but her age remains a mystery so I don't know how long ago that actually was. Certainly suggests that it was back before gay marriage was legal in Australia, so I suppose on that level this can serve as a period piece in the same way as "Six Feet Under". Not going to pretend everything's hunky dory now either, but a lot of the kinds of homophobia that I saw get thrown around when I was younger feels much more taboo. Progress doesn't just have to be limited to antiquated views literally dying out.

The thing I haven't mentioned for all of this is that I was really into this song at the time. If I put the 2019 list into how I was feeling for the songs at the time, this song is comfortably into the top 20, and pushing close for the top 10. I don't know where the fault lies after that. I think I just got a bit caught up in the excitement for a song that didn't quite live up to it in the long run. It's a song that lives somewhere in an awkward middle point between being a rough recording by a triple j Unearthed artist and a professional one made to be put on repeat.

#529. Sticky Fingers - Gold Snafu (#20, 2014)

56th of 2014

I've said it before but it's worth repeating that not all whistles are created equally. Maybe there are some that land so flatly that you're willing to be convinced it's a worthless pursuit and throw out everything else by association. On the other hand, maybe they can also be done so well, you have a moment of clarity. You hear untapped potential that just tells you that everyone else wasn't trying hard enough. At that point, there's no limit in what you're willing to go along with. Why not just chuck in a wordless children's choir?

"Gold Snafu" is clearly the "Our Town" (#539) of Sticky Fingers' 2nd album. It's probably not the most popular song on it anymore, but it's so obviously the one that's coded to perform the best in the annual poll. Unlike "Our Town" though, it actually fully lived up to all that, creating an enormous gulf between it and the rest of their entries. What we actually ended up with on the whole as well was a result that perhaps presented more legitimacy than in 2016. There's no 'Sticky Fingers album track block' in the top 200 list, and they're all reasonably spread out.

With the way the discourse plays out around this band, it can be easy to get lost in it all and paint a different picture to what's actually on the record. It turns into a clash of personalities where you'll rarely encounter what seems like a sheepish and relaxed Sticky Fingers fan just because that's not what the situation calls for. On both sides of the equation, it's all this heat for what often amounts to one of the most chill and playful bands going around. I mean no disrespect when I say that "Gold Snafu" sounds like a song made for kids to enjoy. There's nothing confronting about it, and on the whole I just feel invited to the party. In particular it reminds me of a certain single from a famous animated band's second album (this band will show up on this list). They've always been proof positive that I can be drawn into something as a child and still find merit to it as an adult. In general the juxtaposition of the fun atmosphere and Dylan really committing to the vocal performance alongside it means there's always something to get out of it.

#528. Cardi B - Up (#52, 2021)

57th of 2021

I don't spend a lot of time thinking about Cardi B. Her release schedule isn't very conducive to that, and it's been a solid 4 years now since she last made a significant splash on the charts. She'll have finally released her second album by the time this post goes live so maybe it'll age badly, but I'm just not convinced she'll ever be as omnipresent as she once was. I think that's perfectly fine because when she was up, she was stuck, and she accomplished so much. Maybe you have to throw one or two too many qualifiers around for notoriety, but "Up" did officially make her the first solo female rapper to have two #1 hits in the US, and "Up" in particular was the highest debuting single with that qualifier at the time (a notable previous collaborator with Cardi B went a little higher on debut in 2024, you know the one, you know the song).

Ironically, most of the time I do find myself thinking about Cardi B, it's because she lives rent free in the minds of people who take every possible opportunity to discredit her (I won't assume that they're all fans of Nicki Minaj but there's gotta be a strong correlation). It's on me for looking at replies on the pop culture side of Twitter, but it has always astounded me how readily people will go out of their way to bring her up.

When the discourse is like this, it always becomes peculiar, the way stats and achievements get glorified and chased by fans and artists alike. You more often than not create an ecosystem where the deliberate manufacturing of these achievements leaves them with the bare minimum to show for it. There's a long history of songs that thrive on the reputation of being a #1 hit, but fall down the charts so quickly that it feels like it's stealing the glory away from the #1 hits that they're trying to thrive on through association. Put simply, no amount of accomplishment will satisfy someone who's already decided they're not impressed.

Even I've gotten clouded up by it because everything about "Up" as a #1 hit screams being just another one of these flashes in the pan, a song that only got to #1 because there were enough people who wanted it to be a #1 hit in that moment. Travis Scott has been thriving on this, and it's hard to imagine a #1 hit with less cultural cache than "4X4". "Up" probably settles in a middle ground. It's not a world beating hit, but in the moment, it spent 12 straight weeks in the top 10 and maintains a respectable showing for daily Spotify streams nowadays. It won't hit the 1 billion mark very soon, but it is inevitable. Maybe it's all the negative propaganda at work to mislead me. Like I just did a moment ago, it's also very easy to just claim that there's no cultural impact, and the whole ecosystem is just so spread out that it's hard to confidently call it out as being wrong.

"Up" is a song about credibility on both the street and on the charts. It's one of those rare bold claims on record that more or less fulfils itself. The only thing missing is a second week at the top spot to truly feel like it's stuck. She also hasn't had a #1 since this one, and it's her latest Hottest 100 entry. I guess you can't un-print receipts after the fact. If there's a true failure of this song though, it's that it wasn't even the highest song called "Up" in the 2021 Hottest 100. Dune Rats (#914) unintentionally created the most unlikely of fake beefs. I've got Cardi's back this time at least.

Overall, I don't necessarily see it sticking out to many people, but I do think "Up" is a worthwhile addition to the discography. Many artists who get sucked into the pop music world can turn every single release into an event, and by extension, a gimmick. When it comes to Cardi B, she's not shy about doing that, so "Up" stands as a rare hit of hers that lets her ride by just rapping. There's a bit to notice with the beat which sounds like a certain Kendrick Lamar song, but for the most part this is just Cardi's show and I'm here for it, I know that's right.

#527. MEDUZA, Becky Hill & GOODBOYS - Lose Control (#88, 2019)

47th of 2019

Maybe I'm repeating myself too much, but maybe that's on everyone else. We've already encountered MEDUZA (#712), and for that matter, we've already encountered GOODBOYS because it was on the same song. Sometimes this can be a death sentence. Audiences want the part with all the personality and skip over the faceless guys who could be anyone. In this case it's the opposite, where GOODBOYS have had all of their greatest success confined to their MEDUZA collaborations, while MEDUZA have gone on to have a couple of hits without them, including a later entry I'll eventually get to. It doesn't seem to be a gimmick they're interested in revisiting yet at least, and the two groups haven't collaborated outside of these two songs. A slight notch to acknowledge though is that one member of GOODBOYS is among the many writers credited on MEDUZA's song "Paradise".

Anyway, remember when Rudimental had a huge smash hit in 2012 and then followed it up with another song that featured the same singer plus one more, and it actually turned up higher on the Hottest 100? That is not the case this time, but I do think the gap between the two songs is considerably smaller than you'd expect, so there's a case to be made that "Lose Control" is riding on its own merits. I'm not just saying that because I like this song, I'm just looking at numbers really. Also as Mr. Smithers might shout at you from a crowd, this one's got Becky Hill on it!

If that sounds mean-spirited, I don't mean it to be. I've been a relative defender of Becky Hill ever since she has gotten successful enough to warrant any kind of backlash. That might seem weird to you, but in the UK, Becky Hill has actually had dozens of hits. It may have dried up now as her last top 40 hit was almost 2 years ago, but it was a very impressive run for an artist who might be dismissed as not having a fanbase. She falls into that category of artists who aren't quite Ellie Goulding big, and end up with a career of radio hits that probably could have gone to anyone. I'll have more to say on the topic with another UK pop star who spent a while in a similar position, and wouldn't you know it, they were both on the same label.

I said I'm a defender of Becky Hill though and I stick by that. I first heard her in 2013 singing on Rudimental's "Powerless" and was immediately impressed by her vocal range, doing a lot to elevate the track. Arguably her biggest success wasn't far away either, scoring a UK #1 hit in 2014 teaming up with Oliver Heldens for "Gecko (Overdrive)", another banger. From that point on she was mostly in the Jonas Blue/Sigala circuit and I didn't have the same interest, but I still thought she was a great singer. Just for that I've never subscribed to the idea that she's generic. I think she's instantly recognisable and can absolutely improve anything by association.

Case in point, "Lose Control". Maybe this just is a revised version of "Piece Of Your Heart" by committee. Get rid of that weird bit so it's more boring, switch up the vocal duties so it's less boring. I'm taking the bait hook, line and sinker though. Still, I can compare all the other parts of the songs and this one tends to come out on top. That icy sounding beat to start it? Better in this one. The pounding bass in the background? Sounds better here without as many claps in front of it. The final drop? Absolutely they've refined it in this one. There's never been a doubt in my mind that '"Piece Of Your Heart" version 2 edit [FINAL]' is the superior product.

#526. Lorde - Solar Power (#26, 2021)

56th of 2021

It's been about 9 months since I last tackled this particular Lorde album, with the song "Stoned At The Nail Salon" (#941). That's a long time in the space of this blog and it's not a particularly short time in my life either, so I read it back and it doesn't feel entirely like something I'd write now. Yes, at the very best, you're probably reading this part a couple of months after I wrote it, but I'm also my own studious editor so if something feels astray, the older, wiser me will fix it. This is apt because Lorde has recently said something similar about her 3rd album "Solar Power". It's a snapshot of where she was at the time, and there's merit to that, but it's not really the person she is now.

This was my diving in point to finally listening to "Solar Power". Something that crossed my mind again was the reception of the album and what it actually means for the quality. I feel like there's an intangible factor of trust and allowance that everyone has with every artist. The bigger a fan you are, the more likely you are to go along with them when they go off into unexpected territory. Part of me wants to extrapolate a big mathematical formula for how it works for an entire fanbase. Which artists have free rein to do whatever they want, and which ones are hanging by a thread that could easily snap if they make one mistake. But for how it relates to my interest, can I find a way into Lorde's maligned 3rd album on its own terms? Once you accept that it sounds a bit different to her usual affair, you start wondering if the negative reception is a by-product of that on principle, or if Lorde has a very eager fanbase who can accept where she's going with this, but just don't think the execution is there.

For me, I landed on a pseudo-contrarian take. I don't like it as much as Lorde's first two albums, but I do think it works on the level that it's going for. "Solar Power" is not an album of bangers, and you're more likely to be inundated with acoustic guitars, what an outrage. Generally though I think it's really well produced and there's a lot in the arrangement that rewards a close ear. I didn't have high expectations going into this but then I heard "Fallen Fruit" and it's very quickly becoming one of my favourite Lorde songs. I haven't worked out what it reminds me of yet, but it feels like it was made for me. Otherwise we've got a very introspective album that on one level maybe leans too hard into it, but I won't deny that there's an appeal in hearing lyrics that cut away the artifice and metaphor and just speak directly from the heart. I'm not sure how seriously Lorde is taking on the persona of the person in their mid-20s who thinks they know everything, but I also feel strongly that she's very likely to reflect on this and grow from it.

The new age stuff is not really for me, but I won't put it down if it works for someone else. That's another thing you'll hear a lot on this album. Lorde has gone full Solaire from Dark Souls and now wants to praise the sun at every opportunity. She somewhat gets away with it on this title track just because it's a little more abstract, and also you're probably more distracted by how it sounds for the most part. This song goes halfway into full-on "Freedom '90" by George Michael praise but just takes a pivot on the chorus. I can see why it was picked as a single. Just the whole reveal with the album cover makes it feel iconic. It landed especially high in the Hottest 100 for a song that drowned in the water many months before voting took place. You might not ever instinctively go back to "Solar Power", but just seeing the name is always going to evoke a lot, even if it's mostly just someone's ass.