I haven't been this excited about single releases since middle school.

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

The Britney and Lily videos both hit the Internets today.

Britney - "Circus"

(Better-but-unembbedable version here.)


Lily - "The Fear"

Comments

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

I said it ages ago, but nobody bit and I still want to talk about it, so I'll say it again:

I was always impressed with Lily as a lyricist (see "Knock 'Em Out"), but I was impressed with her ability to be clever and distinct -- I wasn't aware that she could be evocative. Her new stuff, though, hits harder than anything on Alright, Still ever did: "The Fear" starts off mocking, and turns sympathetic and chilling at the chorus, while "I Could Say" is honest and weary (and goes to a sort of "Say It Right" place). Which brings me to "Who'd of Known" -- there's such a distinct sense of place and time; it's almost as detailed as Autobiography. And she chooses just the right details: the way she orchestrates closeness, the intimacy of sitting around his house and watching his TV, how you can hear her satisfied smile on "you accidentally called me 'baby.'"

I don't think the brat is gone, though -- one of the new songs is built around a chorus that cheerfully goes, "Fuck you! / Fuck you very much."

[weasel-seeker.livejournal.com]

Who'd Of Known, if it weren't coming out in 2009, would probably be one of my favourite songs of the year, for exactly the reasons you list. I enjoy Lily's sarcasm, but I have an (imagined?) sense that she's letting her guard down on a lot of these songs, and the returns are surprisingly rewarding.

A lot of our complaints about Kate Nash were that she writes detailed songs about nothing in particular. That said, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Foundations, minus her vocal affectations, and Who'd Of Known almost sounds like the inverse of that song. Detailed and lived-in, but warm and loved and SURPRISED by it, rather than cynical, out of love and jaded.