Album- Living for the
Weekend
Artist- The Saturdays
The Saturdays are
definitely a pop force in today’s music industry, becoming a successful act not
in terms of all artists, but more particularly in terms the notoriously
difficult girl band market. And 2013 is definitely a great year for the girls
because they finally achieved a UK number 1 single. Yet the follow up single to
that chart hit performed in what many would view as a very poor chart position,
and the girls have certainly taken their time in releasing a new album. So the
question is, will Living for the Weekend live up to its title and give us a pop
party that we can really enjoy, or is this record a disappointing anticipation
that should have been highly rethought before release?
Track 1- What About
Us (featuring Sean Paul)
The track that made 2013 a great year for this group after
becoming their first number 1 hit, What About Us is a fun electro pop number
with a slight reggae tinge and a summer song vibe. The song finds the group
singing about this relationship in which things are fun but the guy drives you
a bit crazy, and sometimes you kind of just want him to be a bit straight with
you. The lyrics aren’t necessarily powerful but they are very catchy, with the
track having a solid pop chorus and an awesome ‘na na na na’ hook. The vocally
the song features some nice harmonies and some strong vocals from each member,
although the Auto Tune can be annoying at times. The song is fuelled by some
synth heavy production which gets you in the mood to dance, and with the
charismatic Sean Paul acting as the perfect, flirtatious accompaniment to the
tracks summer sound, this is a solid pop track that quite rightly deserved its
status as the group’s first number 1, even if just on the pure fact that it
makes you feel so summery and good.
4/5
Track 2- Disco Love
Disco Love keeps things fun and light, but somehow the
sweetness factor and sugary electro pop taste is amped up, with the song
featuring another big and catchy pop chorus. Here we find the girl
flirtatiously talking to this guy and asking if they feel the love that is in
the air. In many ways the lyrics are cheesy, but the fun personality of the
girls just makes the track feel infectiously awesome, with the Donna Summer,
Bee Gees and Britney Spears references being great pop culture lyrics. The song
is vocally stronger than the previous offering because of the toning down of
the Auto Tune, although this song does feel a bit too carried by band member
Vanessa White in the chorus. Producers StopWaitGo do a great job of giving us a
frenetic but catchy pop sound full of shimmering synths, punchy rhythms in the
chorus and a great horn based outro that is just funky and party ready.
3.5/5
Track 3- Gentleman
The follow up single to What About Us didn’t perform as
well, and in terms of sound you can kind of see why, as this is more of a risk
taking song for the group. The track focuses on the girls telling us of how a
gentleman is hard to find in today’s world, and apparently the 90’s was the
golden age of the chivalrous man. The message is feisty and catchy, with the
girls employing more of a rap sing style vocal throughout the track, a markedly
different tone to the two previous tracks. And whilst the heavy synths and
funky production make for a fun, fast paced tune, the song is just quite a
curveball from what people will be used to from the group, and it also feels a
bit too Americanised, as if the girls are too focused on chasing their American
dream, making this track one of those hit and miss numbers the individual
listener must place judgement on.
3/5
Track 4- Leave a
Light On
A mid tempo pop ballad, Leave a Light On finds the girls
going back to a safer, typically pop orientated sound that finds their light
vocals layered over a forceful drum loop and quirky synth notes. The song is
all about the girls telling their partners to leave a light on for them if they
miss them, because they should know that they will be back with them no matter
what. The message is clichéd and the use of the coming home hook draws the song
into slightly dangerous plagiarism territory (i.e. sounds a bit too much like
Diddy Dirty Moneys ‘Coming Home’), but the sweet, sincere quality of the track
is nice and once again we are treated to a solid pop chorus. Vocally things are
stronger here, although with the style of the song you do get to see which
members of the band are definitely vocally stronger, and sometimes Auto Tune
just makes the tracks lose that essence of heartfelt passion that should be
present throughout. But with the attacking production value of the song that
commands your attention, you definitely get the impression that the girls mean
business with the track, giving us one of the better pop ballads from the group
than some of their other records.
3.5/5
Track 5- Not Giving
Up
From the pop balladry of the previous track we change pace
completely and rapidly, as Not Giving Up is a stomping dance pop affair with
fast paced sound and impressively fast paced vocal. Lyrically the song focuses
on the girls telling this someone that they have stolen their hearts, and that
they won’t give up on the love that they feel for this person. The softness of
the verses is great a perfectly compliments the velocity of the chorus, whilst
the girls are vocally feisty and passionate, although things are Auto Tune
heavy. The songs stomping dance beats makes the song sound like a sister track
to the girls 2011 dance pop hit All Fired Up, and purely because of this fact
the song might work really well as a single. However, things don’t feel as
fine-tuned and catchy here as they did with all fired up, and the bridge
doesn’t build things up enough for the final chorus to have the impact that it
should, with the tracks just over 3 minute length being too short in my
opinion.
3.5/5
Track 6- Lease My
Love
Produced and co-written by legendary hit maker Rodney
‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, Lease My Love is a stomping electro sound based tune with
a strong RnB edge. Lyrically the song is a feisty number that is all about the
girls telling this guy that he can’t get away from them and that he has made them
feel bad, but he can’t lease there love. The message maybe doesn’t come across
as strong as it should, but the lyrics are strong in terms of the simple chorus
that finds the girls giving us a defiant, passionate vocal performance. The
production value on the track is good with synths nicely being integrated with
more bass heavy sounds, but at times the sound can feel a bit too overpowering.
And the major problem with the track is that whilst the girls bring out the
passion and vulnerability of the track out quite nicely, at the same time Auto
Tune once again comes into play too often, with the robotic outro and intro
courtesy of member Frankie Sandford just sounding annoying.
2.5/5
Track 7- 30 Days
Released over a year before the actual release of the album,
and so weirdly being the records first single, 30 Days is a simple dance pop
number that could have equally worked well on the girls last studio album, but
which also fits comfortably here. The song has a romantic spin to it as the
girls tell their loves of how hard it is to be apart and how they are counting
down the days till they see them, carrying on the message of Leave A Light On
and sounding that bit more sincere because you though this is something a band
like this probably go through. The vocals are stronger and in terms of
harmonies the group are a bit stronger, whilst the chorus is lyrically pure and
simple and therefore very catchy. The plinky synths and punchy beats of the
production gives a nice fun dance vibe to the track that is pop driven and
typical but which suits the song and drives the message home whilst not making
things to soppy.
3.5/5
Track 8- Anywhere
With You
Coming after 30 Days, Anywhere With You is another track
that finds the girls talking about being apart from their respective beau’s and
being saddened by this, and so by this point we could just rename the album The
Saturdays Sing About Missing Their Boyfriends. However that being said, these
types of songs are actually all a little bit different in their own way and don’t
come across in an annoying way, and so we can maybe forgive the girls slight
over indulgence on the I miss my man front. Here the group sing of thinking
about their lover and wishing that they could be anywhere in the world with
them because their love is so great, with the song being another track that is
wrapped around a pure pop chorus that is irresistibly catchy. The song features
some slinky synths and stomping pop rhythms and is a great track on the set
because here the girls really stick to their pop roots and it just makes things
a bit better because they do so. Vocally the song is strong, with the Auto Tune
button taking more of a step back and the harmonies once again being tighter
and all-round better, whilst member Vanessa White particularly does a great job
in making the songs chorus punchy and catchy.
3.5/5
Track 9- Problem With
Love
Suddenly after being in a state of missing their man, the
girls do a musical U-turn and want to complain about the problems of love, with
these guys apparently not treating them in the way that relationships should
go, whilst it is equally hard to live without love. The message is strong but clichéd
and also feels like the girls haven’t fully analysed the situation, whilst the
vocals take a step back to more of a robotic edge that means that the girls
just come across whiny and not truly meaning what they say. The songs sound
utilises a stomping dance beat and a slight dubstep influenced breakdown that
offers variation in the record but which lacks originality and just feels like
to much we can be so different within our music has been crammed in.
2.5/5
Track 10- You Don’t
Have the Right
The records only proper ballad, You Don’t Have the Right is
written by legendary singer-songwriter Diane Warren and finds the girls telling
this person that they cannot just contact them after the mess their
relationship and expect them to continue to be friends. The lyrics are slick
and structured nicely but don’t feel powerful enough and interesting enough to
make this a Diane Warren classic, whilst the girls voices are nice but aren’t powerful
enough to make the song have a dramatic effect that could have made it a stand
out piece. Things would also have been a little bit better if the production
was stripped back to just simply a piano melody, but instead we are treat to
strings and drums that just makes the songs sound to overpowering and not
allowing the message of the song to the leave the impact it should.
2.5/5
Track 11- Don’t Let
Me Dance Alone
From the balladry of the last track we go to up tempo dance
floor ready territory with Don’t Let Me Dance Alone, a feisty musical number
that finds the girls telling these guys that they need to make a move and not
let them be alone on the dance floor, although they won’t get them that easily.
The lyrics are ok with a nice pop chorus but some of the clichés used are just
ridiculous, and sometimes you can get confused about what message the group is
actually sending here. The vocals are once again Auto Tuned, but in this case
it isn’t so annoying and depending on who you are as a listener you may be able
to get past it, whilst the frenzied dance pop production is vibrant enough to
make you want to dance.
3/5
Track 12- Somebody
Else’s Life
Final track Somebody Else’s Life is a simple pop number that
is all about the girls being in this magical city where there dreams have come
true and they are living a great life. Serving as the opening theme music for
the girls E! reality show Chasing the Saturdays, the song should have just
stayed as a theme song, as the message is cheesy and executed poorly, whilst
the vocals are Auto Tuned in places that is just extremely annoying and there
is no sense of personality coming through in the song. The snappy percussion
and dance rhythms of the song are ok but once again lack originality and make
the song a sad all-round package of boring.
1.5/5
Final Review
Living for the Weekend is an album that has some nice pop
tunes and which stays true to the girls musical roots to good effect on some
occasions, but which at other points is cluttered by too much attempt at
musical diversity and clichéd lyrics. The vocals also must definitely be
improved on, because Auto Tune is just an annoying concept where this girl
group is concerned that must be eradicated. So for now we can be thankful of
the odd good pop tune, but The Saturdays sadly remain a singles orientated
band.
Best Track- What
About Us (featuring Sean Paul)
Worst Track- Somebody
Else’s Life
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