Clockwork Creep — “Grow”
It was obvious from this song’s mumbling beginnings that we were due for something big, and it came soon enough, in the form of an orchestral rock song with plenty of strings. This element of the song is by far its highlight: the music frequently shifts direction without being chaotic about it, so your ears always have another layer to explore. The vocals, however, fall into the category of “there’s nothing wrong with singing in your native tongue”. We have an assortment of lyrics that often don’t make much sense, and the way they sing “grow” sounds a bit silly after a while. I’m not entirely convinced the primary singer is comfortable hitting those big notes either.

Titas ir Benas — “Getting Through This”
Some nice production on this electro-pop track: the build is careful, with sounds which are unusual enough to stop it from being overly generic. There’s enough catnip here for the type of Eurovision fan who’s in it for the bangers, even though I suspect this has a lower beats-per-minute than others in the same musical category. Lyrically there’s nothing particularly special, but the vocals have that smooth boy-band feel which helps when you’re trying to sing along. I am particularly pleased that the song doesn’t let up in the last minute: no meanderings, no drop down to a minimal beat, just full throttle until the end.