Spoiler: Reactions
New Scandinavia // Chasing Kites - Iamamiwhoami
I'd expect this to end up with a lot of points from me. I get the sense that the gorgeous visuals are doing a lot to add to its ambience and maybe it wouldn't stand out an awful lot if I were listening to it a few times over mixed into other synthy stuff that I like, but as a baseline experience I can absolutely wallow in this kind of woozily-dancing-in-the-open-air-at-a-festival electropop.
Scythia // Time - Hootie & The Blowfish
I was just slightly too young to be aware of that first Hootie album being as big as it was, so I don't really have any recollection of this one. The gentle folksy rock vibe is fine enough; I'm not particularly convinced by the lyrics or vocals, though. The whole "gosh, nothing ever changes, does it? Past, future, past, present, future, past, future, present, etc." isn't anything I haven't heard before, and when it does the "children dyin' / mothers cryin'" verse it verges on the self-parodical, for me. Perfectly listenable overall, but it feels like they think it's more profound than it is.
France // Light - Ancient Bards
Most of my opinion on this song is that yer lass's irises are hella large. Are those some goofy contacts, a weird lighting thing, or just really fuckin' large irises? Wild.
Feels like this would slay at Eurovision. I'd probably get behind it as a compromise candidate over some of the more reprehensible entries, but I wouldn't be thrilled about it. It's not really my thing but, as operatic metal that spends too long at full vocal pelt goes, you could do a lot worse.
Mount Celeste // Lagtrain - Inabakumori ft. Kaai Yuki
OK, that pan-pipey thing is definitely working on me. It's a hoot. The vocals are a bit child-stuck-down-a-well for me but the rhythm section is doing a great job here and it's hard not to bounce a bit. Perhaps I'd rather we just wrapped things up rather than bothered with the slightly perfunctory key change at the end, though.
Chile // Aunque No Sea Conmigo - Macha y el Bloque Depresivo
I can get all over these lush vocal harmonies. I'm all about the bongos and the block and the guitars here. It's all just very nice. Yes please.
Philippines // Growing Pains - Izzy S.O
Izzy. Can I call you Izzy? We've got to talk about this. You can either be Izzy S.O. or Izzy SO. One dot will not do. You have to pick a side. Find a style guide and commit to it. Please. I'm begging you.
Song's fine. Sad women with guitars is as slap-bang in the centre of my wheelhouse as it gets. Other than a nice crisp hit on the guitar when we get to the chorus, I don't know if I'm detecting anything unusual here, but it could easily have been something that had been kicking around in my library getting five incidental plays a year for a decade.
Morgantown // Another Leaf - Charles Wesley Godwin
OK, so I can't really tell what made this guy up and leave town halfway through the song and am left a bit unsatisfied on that front, and the long, clappy, uptempo outro does not feel of a piece with the verses that came before it. But enough of the individual elements worked for me - a lovely violin part, in particular - that I ended up liking it more than I didn't, and that's quite unusual for a country song so fair play to the lad. I think it's probably incoherent enough that I'm not going to rush back for repeat listens, but I thought about it.
Sumer // Bike Thief - Freezepop
This song's extreme "this is not a metaphor, I cannot stress enough how little you should read anything into this" energy was kind of appealing in its confidence, but until things kicked up a bit in the last minute or so I was mostly left cold by the robotic vocals and slightly harsh synth rhythms. It was just a bit stark. If we're going to just yabber on about how we steal bikes and there's literally nothing else to think about here, I wanted more verve to the melody and more bombast to the beat and to be forced to dance through it. If we're gonna be dumb, let's BEEEE DUUUUMMMB. Ya know?
Slovenia // Arm's Length - Pool Kids
We're doing 90% of the standard emo vocal delivery here and, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful we're not at 100%, but it's not quite for me. Songs of this ilk do this thing where the lyrics are not so much lyrical as they are just matter-of-fact things you might say in conversation or write in a diary and the singer just puts a bit of volume on them and stretches out the delivery a bit to make them feel more music-y, and every time I wish they were just written a bit more poetically so that we didn't have to sorta-shout them out. That said, we're not at full blast on this stuff, and I thought the guitar work here was pretty cool. It's kinda close to morphing into something I'd enjoy, but there was never a line that made me think they were going to write something else I'd fully embrace.
Antarctica // Birthday Cake - Cibo Matto
Plenty of people in the YouTube comments here insisting it turns into something transcendent on the third listen. I'm good not finding out.
Zanarkand // A Tune for Jack - Lemon Jelly
I've enjoyed Nice Weather for Ducks as a sometimes food ever since it was entered into SC3 (I'm so old) but have never quite been moved to try any other Lemon Jelly stuff. This is less batshit than that song - I would argue overall for worse, given that we're noodling along for nearly seven minutes here. A little spicing up wouldn't have gone amiss because, while this is a perfectly amiable little groove, its phases are fairly subtle. Not something I'd complain about having on in the background, though.
Poland // Rivers in the Desert - Lyn
I haven't played the game, but somebody's shown me this track before. I'll tell you what I said then: a slight but pleasant defying of my expectations of what a JRPG soundtrack entry would sound like, but I found the vocals to be mixed a bit too indistinctly, such that I couldn't really make out any of the lyrics.
Mali // Burning Down the House - Paramore
(my entry!)
I was very much not the right audience for much of Paramore's early work but I've been greatly enjoying their transition to a rockier sound over recent years (This Is Why is one of my favourite albums of 2023), as well as Hayley Williams's solo albums, so I thought I should enter something that reflected how much I've been listening to them recently. So I went with their most recent release, which I've had on a lot in the last few weeks. I am not overly attached to Talking Heads in general and the original Burning Down the House in particular is not one I have any reverence for, but I really like Paramore's take on it here - feels respectful of the original sound but definitely with their own edge, and I am a huge fan of Williams just letting go with her vocals. It's just a bunch of fun.