We aren’t a particularly negative music blog, always trying to base our selections on artists we actually like. The main reason for this is that it’s enough effort to maintain a blog – sourcing good music, researching it and then putting the post/editorial together – so why would we bother with all that for something we didn’t really enjoy.
However, we break ranks today, as there’s been a crime against music itself and we are going to enjoy tearing this band a new one…
Keen followers of this blog may recall how we’ve covered Hurts before, in a positive light, following the discovery of their exceptionally decent song, ‘Wonderful Life‘, which played on a low-key, cheaply made, but utterly endearing video on their otherwise bare Myspace. It felt like a modern pop classic, reminiscent of Ultravox at their 80s best. We duly approached the band asking if we could have an mp3 of the song in order for us to give them some useful coverage on The Recommender’s pages and we got the following snappy response from their singer Theo Hutchcraft, “We do not think it fair that you blackmail artists to obtain music in exchange for editorial…“. Wow! That’s one way to look at it Theo.
We mustn’t forget that this was a group that had already endured two failed attempts at being a band, as Daggers and Bureau, so with this new outfit they were clearly aiming for the top with their third shot. They wanted to run things tightly this time around, with a well worked out design of their image and a selection of songs that had a broader chart appeal than their previous etchings. Mr Cowell would be proud and certainly no pesky bloggers were going to be giving it away, as this time they were hunting out a major signing, so they would be doing it without us.
In all fairness, Theo later apologised to us, suggesting that it was the demands laid upon them by a major label that was silently hovering in the background, so his hands were tied. Still, choosing to annoy a batch of well-networked music critics wasn’t the best way to start. Thankfully every other band we’ve ever dealt with, signed or unsigned, are more into building bridges than knocking them down and trying to swim across, so it wasn’t a new trend.
Hurts music initially showed a fantastic amount of strength in depth, with pop songs that seemed timeless and powerful, emotional and heartfelt, but things began to unravel around the time of their debut album. There was clearly a fair bit of ‘filler’ on it, rumours that songs had been penned by the reality TV show winner of Fame Academy, David Sneddon, as well as what seems like an invented backstory involving a questionable Wikipedia page about a early 90s genre, disco lento. Weird, but sadly lacking in wonderful.
Their strangeness continued into their live sets. We first saw them play live at Brighton’s Great Escape, with a show that had so many minute details covered you would think they had the whole world in attendance – rather than the 3/4 full venue that was nearer the truth. Theo holds a comb in his hand throughout, but never uses it – he didn’t need to with hair so immaculately prepared it looked plastic. A slightly uncomfortable and out of place opera singer stood at the back for the whole performance, occasionally chipping in and giving classical music an ‘up yours’ in the process.
The next time we saw them was in Oxford as part of the NME radar tour, so finally things seemed to be looking better for them – we can’t quite imagine Daggers/Bureau earning that sort of opportunity. However, as part of the deal they seemed to have negotiated a headline slot, as well as a tour bus for the jaunt around the UK, having only previously played a handful of gigs! We enjoyed the first two bands, but watched the venue empty before Hurts came on and played to about 15 people. Bless them, Theo still held that comb like his life depended on it, as he did his Blue-Steel-stare into the (very empty) middle distance.
So today we bring you the latest twist in their fumbling grope of the industry. Ironically it was only yesterday that we were listening to the remix (listed immediately below this paragraph) of a tune that, before today, had ranked as their biggest crime against humanity, the very East-17-sounding ‘Stay‘, remixed by Millions Like Us. It had been put through such a re-invention that it actually allowed us to enjoy it. Our ears didn’t even bleed or anything!
HURTS – STAY (MILLIONS LIKE US REMIX)
Sadly that bubble burst like an Icelandic volcano today as we stumbled upon Hurts’ latest offering. They thought it a good idea to release a Christmas song (Ed – didn’t East 17 do the same thing back in 1994?). Or perhaps their record label demanded it? Maybe David Sneddon called up and said “hey guys I’ve got another great idea“? We’re not sure, but alas, it’s cut the credibility cord as deftly as a chainsaw, so brutally atrocious are the results.
We could previously ignore their mis-guided efforts, as they sat among some strong pop tunes and in the genre of pop we can forgive a little ham and cheese, but when they hand it to us with their funeral-level of straight-faced seriousness and the resulting tune is this uncomfortably corny then they cross the line.
It ticks all the Christmas song boxes like they spent all of ten minutes creating the thing – bells ring, 1-2 beats plod along like a sled through the snow, but it’s the lyrics that made us feel like throwing up on our keyboard. Theo must be confident of outselling this year’s X-Factor winner with lines such as “Everywhere there’s joy around this festive time of year“, or the obvious, “All of the bells ringing out for Christmas“. It’s like they’ve had all sense of originality removed from their brains in a major label lobotomy. Fuck it’s bad. We even questioned if it was genuine; perhaps someone was impersonating them?
No doubt it will soundtrack a few ITV Christmas montages and be popular among those pop fans who are yet to begin puberty. For us it suggests that Hurts are either puppets secretly having their songs written by a team of Cowell-esque figures whilst trying to remain cool and serious, or they’re unashamedly happy to produce material that is so boring and so mid-market, in the wake of their previous failed careers, that they’ve lost all sense of what is actually cool and taken seriously.
You’ll be pleased to know that ‘All I Want For Christmas Is New Years Day‘ is available on iTunes on 14th December. However, all we want for Christmas is a mop and bucket so we can clean up our keyboard. (MB)
I mean following on from the age-old pop tradition of so many shit artists like The Pogues, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Slade, The Pretenders, Greg Lake, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, The Killers, Coldplay and James Brown is just disgusting. God, I hate Christmas… Haha!
Thanks for your comment. Your point is very true, but with a few exceptions, most of those artists made pretty horrific choices with their Christmas songs too. It’s a money-maker (in most cases, for the label). Paul McCartney’s was a particularly awful effort, so I’m sure the journalists of the day would have slated it too – I would have blogged about it too, if blogs existed back then.
Also a lot of those artists had a large slice of fun injected into their image, in some cases involving a lot of drinking/drug taking too, so a Christmas song didn’t go against their image. That cannot be applied to Hurts – it’s their straight-faced cool that flies in the face of this Xmas release that is so frustrating. Don’t you think this sort of thing suits a slurring Shane MacGowan over the comb-holding Theo Hutchcraft?
Thanks
Accusing people who like this song of being pre-pubescent yet writing like a sulking child. Sad.
The song’s just an awful piece of generic shit, so not sure that means I was sulking.
I also wasn’t stating that it will ONLY be children that will exclusively buy this, but that the average age of the people that buy this style of sugary pop is pretty young.
You’re probably right though, as a few mums will like it too. (…sniggers like a 12 year old boy)
My approach to blogging is the same. Only spend time on music that I really like. But since you have posted this, I have to say Hurts’ album spent about 30 minutes on my hard drive and then I deleted it because I only write positive reviews. Haven’t listened to the Christmas song and don’t need to. To end on something positive check out the newish releases from these artists that are friendly to bloggers, are very easy to chat with and like to share a little here and there:
Arms & Sleepers – Matador
Hidden Orchestra – Night Walks
Her Name Is Calla -The Quiet Lamb
Amiina – Puzzle
Fredrik – Origami
Sleep Party People – Sleep Party People
Thanks for all those recommendations – I’ll check them all out for sure.
Having recently attended and enjoyed a Hurts concert in the UK my experience was very different to the author of this piece. The show was a sell out and the mixed audience seemed to really enjoy them. Maybe it was a case of you catching them on a bad day ? Also your comments above about the average age of people buying the material being mainly young is I belive, misinformed – the audience I saw (their own audience, not a festival or NME tour) was mainly people aged 30-50 and included a high number of gay men – there were very few teenagers there.
I enjoy this new song because for me it encapsulates what Hurts are good at – expressing simple emotions in a grand way . The lyrics for me are simple – no they’re not Dylan – but are effective – as a previous comment wrote it continues a tradition of contemporary musicians creating Christmas music, whilst sounding unmistakably ‘Hurts.’ I for one don’t care for what music blogs think is cool and should be taken seriously. I just enjoy pop music for what it is – something to entertain me and Hurts do that.
I hope your Christmas is still OK, and that you manage to avoid the Hurts song on the radio. Bag humbug.
Thanks for your comment.
Just to clarify, I saw them live at the beginning of 2010, so it was before their singles/album and hype properly kicked in, so it’s fair for you to point out that their empty rooms weren’t a permanent fixture.
They would likely sell out the same venue these days – I was mainly pointing out that considering how they were acting with the blogs and with demanding so much from NME that it didn’t seem fair or that they were in a position to do so, at the time. It smacked of arrogance.
Secondly, I was pointing out the average age of a fan that will buy their Xmas song, seeing as it’s clearly so generic and X-Factor-like. Obviously some fans will be older, or straight or gay, but they are pitching it at that Simon Cowell demographic. This worried me because they don’t seem to have pitched their other work quite like this, with tracks like Wonderful Life and Better Than Love etc. I thought it betrayed a lot of fans like you or myself in fact.
Also, I’m aware that this piece makes me look all Scrooge-like for Xmas, when I’m not and Hurts haven’t really ruined it for me – it’s just a headline. I just dislike this song, rather than Christmas itself.
Let’s see what Hurts bring out in the New Year to see which direction they are truly headed.
Thanks again
Strongly agree with this piece – surely the band of 2010 with the most potential and the least end product? I remember the buzz when that Wonderful Life viral came out, and it was deserved because what they were doing was enigmatic and stylish; they had an absolute tune to back them up and duly landed a huge deal. But then the record came out and it is just so wet. They could have been so big but despite all the promise, Hurts just don’t stand for anything. There’s no point trying to be all grand and dramatic when you’ve only got 2 tracks that are any good. And as for this Christmas song, it’s total cack.
ha ha, so true! Thanks Charlie. I think this post is very much about the broad disappointment that was the journey we all took with Hurts, culminating in a terrible, image-shattering Xmas song.
I also agree with this piece. What’s the point in trying to pretend that you’re a credible band, with some originality when you produce such generic, cheesy crap? I’ve nothing against good quality pop music, I was a child of the 80s, but I expect bands who take themselves so seriously to produce something a bit more interesting. I found this track thoroughly dull and uninspiring.
The Hurts video for this Christmas song is now out, so check that below…
The most telling part of this blog is where you state that they have “lost all sense of what is actually cool and taken seriously”. This says far more about you than it does about them.
What has happened here is that you have heard one song, seen a video and a handful of photos and jumped to some conclusions that turned out to be false. Hurts are pop. They want to be pop. They’re not actually worried about being cool. They want to be popstars with everything that entails – duets with Kylie, appearances on X Factor, touring with the Scissor Sisters. Because they’ve turned out to be something other than what you expected you now feel that they have ‘betrayed their fans’ when in actual fact their fans love what they’re doing, including the Christmas song.
Their music is not to your taste and that’s fine, but this blog just comes across petulant and bitter. I would stick to writing about bands that you like instead. Oh, and as for them trying to cash in and make loads of money with a Christmas single – they’re releasing it as a free download.
All fair points, but I disagree. When I heard the first single, Wonderful Life, or when I heard the rest of the subsequent album, images of X-Factor, Scissor Sisters and Kylie didn’t jump to mind. I don’t think I’m being up my own ass by stating that. They’ve associated themselves with these artists since the album and I have to say that was also perplexing.
I also don’t think I’m way out on a limb by describing their image as cool and serious – just look at the photo at the top! How would you describe their image – like Scissor Sisters?
I agree with you that Hurst are pop, but in my defence I mentioned that several times in the piece, so I’m under no illusions, I simply thought they occupied the end of that spectrum that has all the credibility, rather than the generic, manufactured end.
Petulant and bitter? – I critique music, that’s what I do. If I can’t be honest then there’s no point. I’m sorry you disagree, but can we stick to the music, rather than attacking the writers please.
Thank you.
I’m sorry if you felt that I was attacking you. I’m not really, it’s just that when you start an article by describing a knock back from the artist and then go on to slate what they’ve done since, with digs about their attitude, it’s always going to come across as a revenge piece whether that’s intended or not.
I see Hurts as occupying similar ground to Pet Shop Boys. Capable of writing the score for a ballet, but not above writing songs for Girls Aloud or Patsy Kensit. Their early photography is equally serious. I’d agree Hurts present themselves seriously in their photography, but they’re not serious in their interviews or when you meet them, they both have a great sense of humour. They’re not arrogant either.
I was actually at the Great Escape gig and personally I loved the way they presented themselves as something special rather than just another band. It made them stand out and it showed their ambition. Neither is a bad thing in my opinion. And how can you knock the opera singer? He’s fantastic.
As for the song itself, it’s a nice, straightforward Christmas song and everyone I know who’s heard it likes it. It’s not earth-shatteringly amazing or lyrically brilliant, but it’s a nice little free Christmas gift for their fans.
Thanks for being a little more even in your response JG. I guess we simply have differing opinions on the Xmas song.
I think there’s some truth in what JG says here. The music they make doesn’t match the idea that we got from their photos. Having them appear on NME tours – and them being in that magazine – seems strange to me because they are a better dressed Boyzone or a two man Gary Barlow. They’ll never get the Kylie duet because they just simply aren’t good enough at pop music. It’s fairly generic stuff. If they start turning up on kids TV and Loose Women etc it’ll be interesting if they can capture the pop market. But as Mike says well here, the indie crowd aren’t interest any more (and feel a bit duped).
A mixed bag of responses on heere then, but I have to side with The Recommender.
The song is awful. Really awful. It’s unimaginitive, unoriginal and when u compare it with the way the band set their stall out with their 1st single, you have t o admit this is a big change. If u ignore that change then u may as well not comment.
Lots of people attempt Xmas tunes but very few people pull it off.
Hurts are a pop band and some of their songs were pretty lightweight, but no way did I see this coming. As for their stints with Kylie and Scissor Sisters – what the fuck!? They’ve totally ignored a section of their fans.
The Recommender is an established, decent music blog with excellent writing and is consistently good, so I’m happy to defend them on this. keep up the good work guys, as this was another funny and briliant post.
Thanks Jack. Appreciate your thoughts and sentiments.
I have seen Hurts twice, once on the NME Radar tour when more than half the audience of about 50 left after Darwin Deez and most of the rest after a few numbers from Hurts. This left the remaining few a bit embarrassed, never comfortable to be one of few. The second time was at The Great Escape this year in Brighton. A much bigger and more enthusiastic crowd. I also observed, as the Recommender has, that all the moves on stage were the same, down to the playing with a comb without a purpose, stylised manoeuvres that just looked pretentious and unreal, manufactured. Both of these gigs were within what is usually accepted as venues or vehicles for serious new music, compare Hurts and Delphic who I have seen again twice this year and oddly at the same venues. Honest, serious and committed but fantastic fun and great entertainers, not the same music but shown to the same audiences. I could say the same of 2 Door Cinema Club. The trouble with Hurts is that you can’t quite believe that they mean it, that it is a facade, and it is this I think the Recommender was alluding to. I accept that Hurts may have a different agenda about who their market is, and who they want to appeal to but it seems not to sit well with their original output in terms of music and marketing. I was impressed by their emotive quality and pop sensibility when they first made music available, I thought, although their lyrics trite, they had an understanding of making good pop but the album was a huge disappointment with far too many fillers and too many songs that sounded as if they were lifted from the out takes of any boy band you wish to name. If they ever considered themselves to be the successors to the Pet Shop Boys or god forbid Ultravox they have blown it already. In many ways this appalling Christmas song is what we should expect, sad but there it is. Fortunately there are so many other bands out there making similar but so much better music that we are not bereft of stylish electronic pop. Next time you have a chance check out Mirrors, you will hardly be disappointed. All these comments about age are irrelevant, I saw my first live gig more than 40 years ago, I still seek interesting, honest music that sends the proverbial shiver down my spine, I thought Hurts might do that but they have shown themselves to be a sad pastiche.
Thanks KGB. You are totally correct in that it’s their journey from mysterious, dark pop to boyband Xmas song that seems to lose a bit of integrity along the way.
I also agree that Mirrors have perhaps picked up on the stylish pop genre and produced more mature work. Anyone in Brighton this weekend (4th December) should come to our Recommender party, as Mirrors are playing live.
Gig details here – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159098390791233&index=1
Thanks
I’m always shocked that anyone like Hurts. Just goes to show that a decent haircut and good clothes go a long way in pop music. This is a fairly poor Westlife song. If you like that sort of thing, fair enough I suppose.
I can just see one of the X Factor crew singing this and all the judges going, “It’s the wrong song”.
At least it won’t get played after a month’s time. Much like the Hurts LP as they fall off everyone radar.
Thanks James. Totally agree. Ones NOT to watch in 2011 then…
Woo – post a negative blog and get loads of comments
I think reading through the comments one thing is clear – Hurts divide people both in terms of the music and issues regarding being “4 real”.
Mike – as you know I like Hurts, I like their music and everything that they do on stage, in their photo’s etc often for exactly the same reasons you don’t like them. That’s fine, no one is ever going to agree – but even though our taste here differs I have to say I really enjoyed reading the piece, it made me chuckle – sounds odd (and probably a little nasty -sorry) but sometimes I think I enjoy reading negative pieces as much as positive ones. Maybe I’m just an evil bastard though.
Have a great Christmas, I’m looking forward to your top tracks lists etc, all my blogs for December are pre-written with Ones to Watch and Lp’s of the Year posts ready to go from Dec 1st so I can have a month off blogging, so I guess you could say all I want is New Years Day as well……
Thanks Robin. I thought you may chip in and it’s nice to see a Hurts fan and a knowledgeable pop fan responding with an even hand.
I’ve been surprised by the response, but always enjoy a decent debate, so it’s much appreciated.
I always enjoy your end of year roundups, so be sure to tweet us all when they go live etc.
Happy Christmas!
It all makes for a very interesting argument. Like somebody said, Hurts are so divisive. Even among my closest friends. I’ve followed them since the latter stages of last year too, and watched them grow with interest. What I like about it, is that it feels to me like they’re trying to claw back a bit of depth and cool in mainstream pop music which once was there. PSB (and a lot of the 80′s in fact) are a great example of this. But it’s now been replaced by JLS and has become something tepid for kids. I would much rather bands like Hurts were on top of the charts than the X Factor drivel any day. The pop world would be a much more exciting place. Gaga does a similar thing. Yes she’s a pop star, but at least there’s a little bit more to her. If Hurts sound like East 17 to you, wouldn’t you rather smart, interesting artists make that music, than manufactured soulless boy bands? Surely that’s better for music. People like Bowie, The Beatles, Jacko, Oasis etc all made fairly standard pop music, but did it with depth and from an exciting angle. Hurts’ openness about their ambition and love of pop music is something to celebrate. They’re young, and they’re two normal guys from Manchester who make music to try and compete with the Westlife’s of the world. That’s commendable to me, and should be supported. There’s nothing worse than watching 5 scruffy layabouts pretending they don’t care about the world and they just wanna be ‘cool’. What’s inspiring about that? For me, all the best ‘bands’ ever have embraced pop music. U2, Coldplay, Killers, Oasis. Wouldn’t be anywhere if they hadn’t written globe-straddling pop tunes.
As far as the Christmas song goes, it’s just Christmas song! It shows they have a sense of humour, and that they’re normal, which is an important step forward for them. It also shows that they just love pop music. They’ve openly talked about that from the start. If we start to analyse the lyrics and the ‘cool factor’ of all Christmas songs, the world becomes a sad and cynical place. As far as feeling ‘duped’ goes, it seems crazy to base all assumptions about the future of a band from one song and a black and white video. I didn’t make up my mind fully until the album came out. Which seemed logical.
They will always divide, but don’t all the best pop bands do that? In an ideal world, the top 10 would be full of bands like them, and not Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz and N-Dubz. But that’s never going to happen!
Merry Christmas Hurts!
certainly couldn’t see them getting properly in the spirit and rocking cheerful christmas jumpers
ha ha – I now regret not having photoshopped them wearing knitted jumpers on the posts photograph!
Very interesting blog. Personally I quite like the hurts album (although agree with the sneddon comment!)… and I was actually massively excited about a decent band making a good christmas song, I feel it’s a real tradition that no-one can really be bothered with any more. So you know, kudos for trying, but that song is bilge. They could have at least put some sleigh bells on there to stop them looking so depressing….
[...] to detract from Lady Gaga for being overly theatrical, no? Anyway, I don’t buy into the Hurts-bashing, especially so when I’ve got jams like “Blood, Tears, & Gold” stuck in my [...]
This track is uninventive but professional sounding. It is performed without irony but in a powerful and dominant major key. I hate it but I enjoyed listening to it! They tricked me! Bastards! Both my heart and head want to strangle them but it is so easy on the ear that I would LIKE to hear the track used in some Christmas TV montage. As I peer through my spyglass into the future of things to come, I can see Hurts skyrocketing to fame via this song. Curse the ‘tacky’ components of Christmas that fool people into plastic happiness when there is so much more to life!
P.S. How different the track ‘Stay’ is! Never heard anything like it! It’s not 10 out of 10 but it scores a 10 on the *RESPECT-ometer* for creativity!
[...] “HURTS JUST RUINED CHRISTMAS” [...]
As you might have guessed, Mike, I’m pretty well in agreement with you. I listened to Wonderful Life dozens of times. Their myspace wasn’t terribly enthralling, so I let them sit on the backburner until there were a few more singles and more to go on. I anticipated them. So I listened to their other songs when they released them, and I really didn’t like them. I couldn’t even listen all the way through. And then I saw you’d posted about this song–I barely got through the first verse. I don’t know what’s more painful, listening to the tinkling bells and overly emotional Christmas crooning or my stinging disappointment with their falling flat singles. Not my cup of tea. This is not one that HURTS so good.
Thanks Olivia. As usual we are in agreement.
Ranting about not getting an mp3? Really?? Why would you even need that if the song is available on YouTube or MySpace? This whole article just sounds like you are still pissed about that and now somehow feel you have to attack them. If you had just written “oh, I don’t like their new Christmas song”, that would be a whole different thing, but you start with the strange mp3 story, then go on about their live performances, and finally end with something about “credibility”? About that last one – why would a straight-forward pop song not be credible? Just because it’s pop?
OK, so I’m adult enough to admit it was a bit of a rant about Theo’s comments, but please let me explain so we don’t have to repeatedly go over this…
I thought it relevant in the story of Hurts – how they have seemed arrogant but were accepted on the basis that they initially gave us decent music, then they released very poorly written songs so naturally the backlash arrived. Have you also considered that it perhaps would have been wrong of me to leave it out?
As much as I’m sure there’s a massive support for them – I didn’t write this article to be popular – however, there’s also many people who I’m sure believe this song is rather basic, formulaic and boring.
Regarding submissions of mp3s, it’s quite normal for blogs to have solid relationships with bands, their management, PR and labels, all of which send us their music to sometimes share, by streaming it on the blog or occasionally give it away, in exchange for the free publicity and exposure. It’s perfectly normal and healthy. We mainly do it in support of those artists, to bring a wider audience to them, so when we ask for an mp3 we aren’t doing it out of pure single-mindedness, but with a good intention. To accuse us of blackmail like they did was a very sad thing to do, as they could have at least simply said “no”. However, we aren’t “still pissed about it”, rather that it is something that came to mind when writing this negative article about Hurts. It’s relevant and of public interest. That happened many months ago, but believe me when I say we immediately moved on. The blog world is pretty rapid.
Regarding this issue of credibility and pop itself, we are massive supporters of the genre, as you can see from our years of blogging, so I’m not sure why you think we’re attacking the genre in it’s entirety. As I mentioned, on one end of it’s spectrum are a collection of wonderful artists, from The Beatles, to Michael Jackson, to more modern purveyors, but at the other end there’s a sugary, badly written, thoughtless, generic, factory-line of rubbish that appears out of the Simon Cowell school of money making and it is this style, with it’s empty meaning that I was disappointed to now find Hurts.
Mike, you have come far in your few years of music blogging and have showed some of the highest levels of enthusiasm for supporting new bands in the UK. Credit goes out to you.
You’ve now snagged yourself a job at Brighton’s premier nightspot and have some authority in what bands perform there as well as receiving authority on what might be the next big thing in music.
However, in this piece you (still) show levels of naivety that are only reserved for the pre-pubescent x-factor listening crowd who you ridicule for liking and buying Hurts et al.
Hurts were signed to a major record label very shortly after making their debut as Hurts. The smoke-in-mirrors of them being credible, self-styled, and authentic hooked you into supporting and writing about Hurts like they did many others in the early days.
But lets be honest here. Seeing that huge tour bus pull up at each venue on the NME tour should have reconfirmed the doubts you should have already had. 2 guys, an opera dude (and did they have a drummer as well) with hardly any kit traveling around the UK on their first tour in a bus that could carry 50 people. And they probably had 8. It is about perception. To be perceived to be successful, everything styled, manicured and detailed – I bet they even had personalised Theo & Adam towels.
But the main point here is that this project was a scam from the start, and you should have seen it. Had you seen it, you would would have known the Xmas single was a dead cert and now not be writing from a bitter point of view about being disappointed this cool band that you gave time and effort to writee about and support have now done the dirty on you and released a generic, bland xmas song.
The whole Hurts project has been a generic bland xmas song from the moment they called themselves Hurts and signed their deal with Sony. And with you supporting them, liking their (cool and credible Arthur Baker remix) means that the major label marketing dept. sucked you in too. Well I say that, but I’m guessing you didn’t buy any of the singles or the album, and instead just became a messenger for their tasteless moronic pop message.
Somehow you’ve managed to patronise both me and Hurts, but thanks for your thoughts anyway.
Sucked Mike in? I thought Mike was suggesting that he did indeed have doubts that a major label were acting behind the scenes and that the Xmas single is the disappointing revelation that confirms just how much influence they have!?
I quote…
“Mr Cowell would be proud”
“…it was the demands laid upon them by a major label that was silently hovering in the background”
“…it suggests that Hurts are puppets”
“…having their songs written by a team of Cowell-esque figures”
At least you think it a shit song, coz it definitely is, but not sure I agree with ur snobby disreguard for The Recommender.
Heated thread!
I’m not sure if the debate here is around our different likes and dislikes in music, or about genre? I enjoy a good debate as much as anyone. I saw Hurts live Oran Mor Glasgow – which was packed and I thought they performed an energetic set full of strong pop tunes. Theo and Adams let their guard down this time, and were being themselves with a strong sense of humour. I had seen them a few months previously on the NME tour King Tuts here in Glasgow when I believe many leave to catch the last train as these packed shows run late. Yes they are pop and proud of that too. They have a cool retro image.
I also noticed the dark subtle feel of their original ‘Wonderful Life’ Video. It is a pity that they didn’t keep that ‘vibe’ for both the album and their more recent images (rather than use over-stylized fashion photos on the album cover). For me the secret is being true to yourself as an artist, both with image and sound.
I also saw Clare Maguire perform and she has a powerful voice and presence – but I thought her red outfit was OTT and that she needed stronger songs. Hurts album may have a few ‘filler songs’ – but really! – how many albums are there that don’t have at least one or two fillers – even the likes of U2 or the Stones! For a debut album there are several strong songs in the mix, and Theo has stage charisma and a good vocal. I am also an older music fan, I attend many gigs – plus a I play myself and my son studies music and is in a rock band – and I was impressed with their set. It’s not about genre for me, but about what works – and we surely can’t all expect to enjoy the same music?
As for David Sneddon – he was controlled by that ‘reality tv machine’ over eight years ago when he won a reality tv show. Had David much say, if any, in the music that was released then, when things were even more tightly controlled than they are now – I think not? By comparison I notice that Matt Cardle recorded a Biffo Clyro song after he won the X factor 2010 – perhaps even the Cowell machine is beginning to realise success in art is more about the artist’s own voice – and not about some ‘pre-determined formula’. Did Cardle actually select the Clyro song or at least have a say in his song choice? He’s sang with bands for several years so I expect he has some idea of what works with his own personal style. I’ve been reading about Dylan and even HE was ‘labelled’ and given a ‘label persona’ to suit the marketing guys.
Some of us enjoy experimental rock or jazz, some Take That, some Bach, and some traditional folk – while some of us enjoy several genres, including pop. And in fact the soundtracks of our lives are often the memorable melodic tunes. I agree in general about Christmas songs ( and oh dear! the Christmas soundtracks in the shops are so dire and old anything is better ) – in fact there are only about 2 decent Christmas tunes – Lennon’s ‘Do they Know Its’ Christmas’ and ‘White Christmas’ imv. As someone else said, this Christmas song by Hurts was meant as a gift for fans.
Hurts embark on a new tour in 2011, which includes Japan, Europe and the UK.