If you crave the type of pop that hasn't been manufactured in a hit factory by the likes of Simon Cowell and his gargantuan hair then tune your ears to JJ, Scandinavian purveyors of Balearic, cross- fertilised beats. Don't be put off by the blood spattered ganja leaf on the front cover of 'JJ No 2' for this album his nothing to do with Ganstas and there's not even a whiff of hemp-shod datedness to the 9 slices of ice-pure ambiance that make up the 28 minute record. Yes there's some 'global' sounds by virtue of some afro-Caribbean influence but 'Global' music has such a bad, hippies-with-halitosis reputation that it would be unfair to sully this record by attaching that tag.
What you do get with this release is those outside influences melded together with cut glass-clear, mellow vocals, occasional electro input and an uplifting use of laid back synths. It may be just the season but the opener 'Things Will Never Be The Same Again' has a Christmassy Caribbean vibe, the cheerfulness balanced by lyrics that tread the fine line between resigned and morose. There's a similar tone to Africa to Malaga, again that rolling drum beat accompanying wisely reflective lyrics sung by angel voices. 'Ecstasy' is a strange old bird, opening like a relaxation tape with rainforest sounds filtering through before introducing a hip-hop beat and words that engage in the kind of frank admission and discussion of drugs that only non-Brits can achieve without feeling 'uncool.'
I really like this album although I struggle to define it as 'pop.' Somehow that categorisation has been ruined by the Cheryl Coles of this world with their cynical, generic, ghost written chart domination, the likes of which this album will never achieve. But in a way, not to describe JJ as pop denies the term the meaning that it really ought to have. So: this is refreshing pop and I suggest you put down that Alexandra Burke release and get a glass of it right now.
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