Katy B - On A Mission (4 April 2011) - hype, anticipation &c

The trouble is the mid tempo, middling stuff like "Sapphire Blue" and perfunctory dance stuff like "Play."

"Sapphire Blue" is great, you bastard

aaliyah pleez

"Everything" is like, one bell sample away from being produced by Pantha Du Prince

"tumbling down" is where my interest starts to wander, never seem to particularly notice "play" either

"sapphire blue" seems only alright until the amazing "no more walls / no more doors / no more windows / no more floors / no more space / no more time / just your skin / touching mine" climax which slayyyyys

"everything" made me wonder what katy b would sound like produced by maya jane coles, and only partly because mjc also has a song of that title

Sampha kindaaaaa sounds like R. Kelly on his track.

well, one per cent of r kelly, anyway

the thought process behind relegating "blue eyes" and "hot like fire" to bonus tracks while keeping "tumbling down" and "play" and "still" for the main album...completely inexplicable

"still" could've been cut... i like "tumbling down" a lot tho

the graham norton performance of "crying for no reason" is pretty stunning

"tumbling down" is where my interest starts to wander, never seem to particularly notice "play" either

but "everything" and "emotions" are the best songs!

I stop the album after "Emotions" tbh.

and no way is this album the equal of On a Mission.

I stop the album after "Emotions" tbh.

― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, February 6, 2014 7:20 PM (35 seconds ago) Bookmark

well it's the second to last song, that's not that crazy

this definitely doesn't have, like, the energy that "on a mission" had simply by existing but it's really, really good i think

I want to argue this thing is poorly sequence except I wouldn't know where to start resequencing. It's hard to evaluate a release as an album when a considerable portion has leaked in advance; cobbling it together again affects my thinking of it as a whole, if that makes sense. "Still," "Play," and "Sapphire Blue" sound like curate's eggs to me.

*poorly sequenced too

Question: which song from the first album has had the most resonance for you guys?

"Power On Me" and "Hard to Get."

but "everything" and "emotions" are the best songs!

oh i love "everything" but i just meant "tumbling down", which seems to last several years, is where the album just loses its momentum and flow completely. i've actually had to make an alternate track listing, i never ever actually do that but it's the only way to salvage these excellent songs

I like the harmonies on "Tumbling Down" -- reminded me of mid eighties Prince.

It's hard to evaluate a release as an album when a considerable portion has leaked in advance

well, released as singles!

um, do you guys...have the bonus tracks? without them i might well be calling this a disappointment. some of the most striking songs there, all really good

ha i don't think i've ever done that

i have no real feel for sequencing

"blue eyes" is really good

wasn't gonna post my alternate track listing til the thing was actually out but here we go

next thing
everything
i like you
blue eyes
sapphire blue
stay down
emotions
aaliyah
hot like fire
all my lovin'
wicked love
crying for no reason
5 am
sky's the limit

tumbling down/play/still can be bonus tracks if they want

oh i talked to her today and at least have an answer as to why "hot like fire" is just a bonus track

she had no excuse for "blue eyes"

please say she made "hot like fire" a bonus track so she can "super bass" it

i'm imagining she's just sent it to t-swift right now while she's in the uk so she can impromptu sing it on the radio

Don't have the bonus tracks, dig the album. Really like 'Play' and 'Tumbling Down' - 'Still' can get the boot though.

i sorta feel like she came for adele's neck with this album and i'm not even mad at her

i don't get that impression at ALL unless anyone focusing on slow songs is automatically pitching themselves against adele? everything about them is wildly different.

the production on this album is still pretty heavily rooted in uk dance, it's still unmistakeably the katy & gee show

i have a suspicion that you wouldn't like "hot like fire" so much if it wasn't named after an aaliyah song, i think that's one of the worst songs

tim jonze a bit harsh today i thought

it has nothing to do with the aaliyah song? i can assure you that aaliyah worship is not exactly a means to win me over. it's one of the most immediate, anyway

i think this is totally a transition album, i also think it's kinda great

"still" was co written by an adele collaborator and though "emotions" is a total rudimental track i do feel like adele could've come back "crying for no reason" and people would've flipped

Yeah, after some of the pre-release talk I was surprised listening to it how much this was 'like the first' in its uk dance roots and general low-key beauty. Except for Still I guess.

is there a reason why the continuous mix has a completely different ordering to the standard tracklist? it works so much better.

What's the continuous mix tracklisting?

crying for no reason
sapphire blue
i like you
everything
tumbling down
play
aaliyah
next thing
blue eyes
5 am
sky's the limit
wicked love
stay down
all my lovin'
emotions
hot like fire
still

"Next Thing" is way more uk funky than I expect of her (or anyone, really) at this point

wow i'm about the sequencing of the continuous mix

I'm glad I ordered the deluxe version, that continuous mix looks fantastic.

continuous mix makes me actually like "tumbling down" and "play"

"blue eyes" is seriously blowing my mind right now.

and "stay down" is just the most gorgeous heartbreaking thing ever. whoever decided upon what should be on the standard version needs a long hard look at themselves.

Blue Eyes was maybe the standout for me first go around, yeah.

so yeah this blue eyes song kind of reminds me in parts of sweet female attitude's "flowers" which is about the highest compliment i can pay anything

yes! my initial thought when listening to it was of the artful dodger mix of valerie m's "tingles 2000" but that makes much more sense.

just going in on the continuous mix and feeling v vindicated. why the hell wasn't this the actual track listing?

i changed the actual tracklisting to reflect it. "hot like fire" as a penultimate track is weird but otherwise it works perfectly