Eurovision artists were busy last month! There were over 40 releases from across the continent (and Australia!) from some of our favourite Eurovision performers or National Finalists.
In a different approach to our past New Music round-ups, we’ve put the songs to a Bubble poll! We listened to all of the songs on offer and have compiled a countdown of the Top Ten Songs of January 2020! Check out which songs made the list here along with the view from one of our team as to why they voted for that particular song;
10. Benjamin Ingrosso – “The Dirt” (Sweden 2018)
“The Dirt” is the first glimpse of what promises to be a brilliant year for Benjamin Ingrosso! Having come 7th in the 2018 final, Ingrosso has promised a year of new music during this next era of his career. His voice sounds a little like Justin Bieber and the dancey backing track works brilliantly to make it a polished, scandipop song.
“A song which I find quite relaxing. I really enjoy listening to Benjamin’s voice and I like the meaning behind the lyrics- A song about a guy who’s turning his life around.” – Matt
9. Tim Schou – “High Water” (Denmark 2011)
Cast your mind back to Düsseldorf in 2011 and you’ll surely remember the anthemic “New Tomorrow” by A Friend In London. These days the lead singer Tim Schou is persuing a solo career and his latest effort is our team’s 9th favourite song from January. “High Water” is an acoustic, gentle number which springs into life in the second chorus and Tim’s voice really begins to draw you in completely. Tim had this to say about the song:
I wanted to record something with an acoustic approach as a little winter blanket for my listeners, but also as a natural countdown for my acoustic solo show at “Skuespilhuset” in March. Both songs are about relationships for good and bad. If I’m Being Honest about the sometimes scary and confusing feeling of being in love, and High Water about the incidental fights and conflicts. They are thus connected as both sides of the coin.
“I’ve liked Tim’s music ever since ‘A Friend In London’ and acoustic singer/songwriter songs are usually up my alley.” – Haris
8. Ani Lorak & Misha Marvin – “I’m Leaving” (Ukraine 2008)
We have a duet as our 8th place this month, with your favourite shady lady Ani Lorak teaming up with a fellow Ukrainian named Misha Marvin. In a bizarre Eurovision related twist, Misha is the brother of Tayanna, who is of course a three time Vidbir entrant and was twice runner-up in 2017 and 2018! Ani and Misha’s hookup is titled “Ukhozhu” (Eng: “I’m Leaving”) and it’s a moody downtempo number but still has those dreamy Eastern beats you often hear in Ukrainian music….
“I love how chill this song is, but also very powerful at the same time. The voices of Ani and Misha work together really well. I’d actually love this song to be played in the radios here as well, like they do with “Plakala” by Kazka for example. I’ll definitely keep this in my playlist for a while.” – Ervin
7. Renaida – “Ett andetag i taget” (Sweden NF 2018)
22-year-old Renaida, who wowed us all with her 2018 Melodifestivalen debut track “All The Feels“, received the news that we all dread last year when she was diagnosed with cancer. The track was debuted on the TV fundraising show Together Against Cancer on TV4, with the song written about her experience of her diagnosis and the constant questions that went through her mind whilst battling the illness. The song is a hard-hitting, emotional track which is filled with pure honesty to Renaida’s thoughts – which makes the whole song even more sad to listen to. Truly beautiful!
“This song has the most beautiful lyrics and vocal delivery from Renaida and her cancer battle only serves as a reminder to be thankful of the ones we love and the ones we have lost.” – Kyle
6. Wiktoria – “We Don’t Talk” (Sweden NF 2016/2017/2019)
Wiktoria is back with another bang with “We Don’t Talk” – a pop song with her unique touches which makes it more than just another scandipop song. It has a great hook but still has the emotional depth that she excels at. It’s also sort of a new direction for Wiktoria as she experiments with the latin and r&b vibes to the song. With her debut album schedule for May, we imagine this is not going to be the last time we see Wiktoria this year!
“Wiktoria is an Artist that I admire her work. And the song is super relatable… you’re good and nice and you think things are ok, but then people disappear and ghost you for no apparent reason and change the way they were with you. And you know what f**k those people.” – Ahmad
5. Julie Bergan (with SEEB) – “Kiss Somebody” (Norway NF 2013)
Julie Bergan rose to fame in Norway in 2012 when her debut single “Supernova” reached number 5. The following year she debuted in Melodi Grand Prix, with a song written by Ben Adams from the boyband A1, unfortunately she wasn’t able to make it out of the semi final. Undeterred her career went from strength to strength and she hit the number 1 spot in 2016 with the absolute bop “Arigato”. Now she’s currently sitting at number 12 with her latest smash “Kiss Somebody”, a delightful equality anthem that really delivers with the sassy video. Here she teams up with fellow Norwegians SEEB, who are probably best known for their remix of “I Took A Pill In Ibiza” which was a huge global smash in 2016. Turn up the volume and get ready to move to “Kiss Somebody”!!!
“Kiss Somebody is an upbeat song which makes you wanna dance instantly when you hear it from the first second, just right for a night out with your friends. It is also very radio friendly and when you listen to it once it will never get out of your head.” – Nikola
4. Michael Schulte – “Keep Me Up” (Germany 2018)
We’ve come to expect fantastic acoustic-led ballads from Michael, following on his successful Eurovision appearance in 2018. This is a massive change of direction for the singer-songwriter as the track has very trendy beats to accompany his voice. I know that every male soloist gets compared to Ed Sheeran, however this sounds similar to when Ed went full blown pop with ‘Shape of You’. The result? A catchy tune with plenty of foot tapping potential. We can’t wait to hear more of this style!
Michael is giving us another side of him, compared to his Eurovision entry. “Keep Me Up” – it’s very Ed Sheeran style, catchy chorus, radio friendly. It’s that kind of song you will listen to on a bad day and you’re still trying to motivate yourself to keep up, to see your favourite person. – Marco
3. Viki Gabor & Kayah – “Ramię W Ramię” (Poland JESC Winner 2019)
It was only 3 months ago that 12 year old Viki Gabor retained the Junior Eurovision crown for Poland with her anthemic bop ‘Superhero‘. She seems destined to have a bright future and would surely be an amazing representative for Eurovision itself in a few years time! Not many singers her age get to release recorded music and she really delivers again with this duet with fellow Pole Kayah, a singer of over 30 years recording experience. “Ramię W Ramię” is another uptempo from Viki and had many of us hooked as soon as we heard the intro of this accordion fused ethno anthem!
“Most of us know Viki Gabor from the admirable achievement of winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice in a row for Poland! Just a few months ago she took that contest by storm with the infectuous, contemporary banger that was ‘Superhero’.
In ‘Ramię W Ramię’ we see a different side of Viki as she teams up with famous Polish world music singer Kayah and shows a more folky side of herself. The two ladies show they’re having a great time in the colourful and dynamic music video. With a song that’s no less infectious than the one she brought Poland victory with, Viki, together with the legendary Kayah, get us up on our feet and dancing!” – Nathan
2. KEiiNO – “Colours” (Norway 2019)
Your 2019 Eurovision televote winners from Norway are back and once again they’ve delivered another stormer of a single, their fourth since the contest! KEiiNO have tried something a little different this time, with Tom singing his verses in the Northern variant of the Sami language, whilst Fred is prominent in the chorus alongside a choir of children joiking. It’s no wonder that “Colours” is ESCBubble’s second favourite song of the month…!
“I love its rhythm. It’s no ‘Spirit In The Sky’ but it gives a different type of KEiiNO which isn’t the Eurovision style.” – Foaud
AND the top voted song of January 2019 by our team is …
1. Mahmood – “Rapide” (Italy 2019)
Mahmood has shot into prominence both in and out of Italy over the past year. His runner-up track “Soldi” is now cemented in history as one of the most streamed songs in Eurovision history, and then he came out with the equally brilliant “Barrio” soon after. His latest release, “Rapide” has all of the edge that we adore in Mahmood however also the sentimentality, proving that he also has the power to pull off a fantastic, modern ballad. Mahmood is touring again in a few months time, so if you haven’t already you should definitely look in to getting tickets!
“Good to hear something completely different from Mahmood. The start is so gentle, allowing his vocal to shine before we get into the song, which builds nicely into an anthemic chorus. An excursion from what we’ve heard before but still unmistakably Mahmood.” – Anne
So there we have it! Italy’s Mahmood is our pick for the best release of January 2020.
Because we are just too kind to you – we’ve also made you a YouTube & Spotify playlist with all of the songs above! Make sure to check them out here:
See you next month where we’ll again be taking a look at the Top 10 new songs released by Eurovision & National Final artists!