Will Young winning the first Pop Idol instalment back in 2002 seems like a bizarre memory. It is hard to remember him emerging into the music industry under the wing of Simon Cowell because he has proven himself better than those means and shaken free of the stigma sometimes associated with the X Factor like shows. The second Pop Idol instalment with Michelle McManus is thankfully much more forgettable. Or regrettable, you can delete accordingly.
★★★★
As an artist Will Young has mastered the art of producing a catchy yet vulnerable pop sound, maturing delicately with every new song. His last release Echoes back in 2011 promoted his growth as a talented singer songwriter with the likes of the breathtaking Come On and the underlining dance tones of I Just Want A Lover – the video for which saw him dancing around a supermarket car park partnered with a shopping trolley, unique to say the least. This intriguing music video history sets him aside from other mainstream pop acts around today. We have seen him moving from Blue Peter spoofs to taking part in dog training competitions, whilst causing a scene at an art gallery or making us cry in an emotional courtroom scene. Not forgetting about his portrayal as a pregnant man, of course. It all claps together in applause to his artistry.
Enter Love Revolution, the new single and first release from his upcoming album 85% Proof (scheduled for release May 2015). It throws us a funkier sound that we haven’t seen from him in a while, slightly nodding back to the soulful elements of his 2005 album Keep On. If you think the song sounds familiar then you’d be right, as it is a reworking of the 2002 dance anthem Loneliness bought to us by German DJ Tomcraft. Much less Euro-Dance though, I’m afraid, but much more summer soul that will get you dancing around your garden in no time at all.
The video depicts him as a preaching salesman trying to shift his Love Revolution products onto the apparent lonely singletons. It, albeit cheesy, is an entertaining clip that continues to set him aside from the generic pop routines around at the moment – and who here doesn’t enjoy a bit of cheese every now and then? If you said, ‘I don’t,’ then I have nothing more to say to you.
The timing of this single could be considered apt against the likes of the recent Dolce & Gabbana debacle, or the risk of Northern Ireland’s anti-gay amendment passing, which could have seen it legal to refuse service to any LGBT person. Not to mention the American ‘gay curers’ who were about to embark on our dear nation to cure us all from being our-wonderfully-natural-selves. Let’s follow Will Young’s lead, start a Love Revolution and dance with whomever we want, yeah?
