Møise– “Guilty”
Sometimes songs aren’t particularly impressive musically or vocally, but they have an inexplicable appeal which makes you forget some or all of their flaws. This track comes close to achieving this. Even though there’s a fair amount of things I find uninteresting or even cringe-worthy here, I can’t help but be amused (in a kind way) by Møise’s enthusiasm for his song. The final 30 seconds are probably the highlight where his lets loose vocally, but in the end this is a song that shows promise rather than delivers it.


Oana Tăbultoc — “Utopia”
I try not to compare these songs to established artists too often, but the chorus of this reminds me of mid-career Coldplay with its cheerful Avicii-produced EDM like “A Sky Full of Stars”. I like the skittish percussion in the verses and Tăbultoc’s vocals are , even if she seems to struggle with the higher notes. What sinks this song a bit for me is that it caused me to stop and listen to the Coldplay song, after which I’m afraid I could only find flaws in “Utopia” I hadn’t quite noticed before. That’s the danger in mimicking more well-known acts.