"Beware Of The Dog": Jamelia Does To Depeche Mode what Rihanna did to Soft Cell

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So Popjustice* has been all over this already but this truly is an amazing single. She steals the "Personal Jesus" riff and uses it as the backing track while she bangs on about a man who is "dirty to the bone" - and voila, brilliant club stomper. "You better / Reach out and touch me!"

I always liked Jamelia - she's very easy on the eyes, and very pleasant, and some nice tracks - "Money", "Superstar" and "See It In A Boy's Eyes"(really the pinnacle of this new trend of Coldplay/R&B amalgamation)- but she never showed any bite - that is, until now.

* Note all haterz, Jamelia is a black artist.

― danzig (danzig), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:04 (eighteen years ago)

* Note all haterz, Jamelia is a black artist.
what?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:34 (eighteen years ago)

Beware of the Hongro

― struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:38 (eighteen years ago)

Fritz - Popjustice gets the racist brush from some people because it seems to overwhelmingly like pop music performed by white people. hope this helps

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:42 (eighteen years ago)

Popjustice gets the racist brush from ~~some~~ ONE person

fixed

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 21:11 (eighteen years ago)

I always liked Jamelia - she's very easy on the eyes

― a name means a lot just by itself (lfam), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 21:14 (eighteen years ago)

Thread is useless without a picture.
http://www.rol.ru/pictures/misc/news/jamelia.jpg

― struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 21:18 (eighteen years ago)

...I thoroughly approve of this song.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 21:23 (eighteen years ago)

pjustice has been a lot better lately actually! but it certainly deserved every criticism before that

(album cover not so easy on the eye, she looks more like heather small

and i don't understand the adoration for this tune AT ALL. (haha well no, let's say i hope i don't understand innit.) seriously tho, this has more "bite" than 'thank you' or 'superstar' how?

― rtccc (mwah), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 22:23 (eighteen years ago)

Popjustice gets the racist brush from ~~some~~ ONE person

fixed

LOL true.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 22:25 (eighteen years ago)

I sort of heard this song on the TV yesterday, but couldn't be discerning about it as it was drowned out by Jamelia herself making an *extremely* half hearted effort to play down the similarities between the single's video, and that for Beyonce's new one

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 22:29 (eighteen years ago)

x-post

um... who is that one person?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 23:25 (eighteen years ago)

Lex.

― struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 23:26 (eighteen years ago)

Do keep up!

― struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 23:26 (eighteen years ago)

Figures.

Why does Lex hate fun?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

Thread is useless without a picture.

Wow. Truest statement ever made on ILM.

― Post-Rodney (But no one called it that at the time) (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 7 September 2006 02:47 (eighteen years ago)

plz tell me this song is an answer to "Who Let The Dogs Out?"

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 7 September 2006 03:04 (eighteen years ago)

The pic above of Jamelia is horrendous. This one is quite good though.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l169/redcommieapples/12.jpg

― danzig (danzig), Thursday, 7 September 2006 06:41 (eighteen years ago)

seriously tho, this has more "bite" than 'thank you' or 'superstar' how?

Ok maybe "bite" wasn't the right word but Jamelia always struck me as never being aggressive enough - I mean "Thank You" would have benefitted enormously if she sounded a little angrier. "Superstar" sounds fine as it is, but I'd forgotten about that cover of Linkin Park. OMG was she awesome. And she is unrelenting, screaming, plain awesome on "Beware of the Dog".

― danzig (danzig), Thursday, 7 September 2006 06:57 (eighteen years ago)

The world doesn't need cover versions. Particularly not R&B cover versions.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 7 September 2006 08:19 (eighteen years ago)

pjustice has been a lot better lately actually! but it certainly deserved every criticism before that

has it? i haven't visited it for months and months. featuring jamelia means v little anyway, they've always loved the sugababes. "we feature token black artists especially when they make music obviously influenced by white people" = "some of my best friends &c &c"

i expect this song is ok but not in the league of 'superstar' or 'thank you', much as 'sos' was ok but not in the league of 'pon de replay' or 'unfaithful'. depends whether jamelia dominates the sample or lets it dominate her. would like to hear it!

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 7 September 2006 08:32 (eighteen years ago)

"we feature token black artists especially when they make music obviously influenced by white people" = "some of my best friends &c &c"

what are you on?

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Thursday, 7 September 2006 08:34 (eighteen years ago)

"we feature token black artists especially when they make music obviously influenced by white people"

Like SOS was influenced by Tainted Love, you mean?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 7 September 2006 08:54 (eighteen years ago)

"some of ~~my best friends~~ the people on my bus &c &c"

fixed

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Thursday, 7 September 2006 08:57 (eighteen years ago)

The world doesn't need ~~cover versions~~ Geir Hongro

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 7 September 2006 10:03 (eighteen years ago)

pj isnt better for featuring jamelia no, i just meant it seems to have laid off the endless random kitsch scando rubbish(-tmisim) a little and started looking more like something actually to do with the top 40 and the radio and stuff

"Thank You" would have benefitted enormously if she sounded a little angrier.

nope. guy just go listen to some rock, it's the only tropes u understand

― rtccc (mwah), Thursday, 7 September 2006 10:41 (eighteen years ago)

The girl does have a cracking pair of pins, doesn't she?

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 7 September 2006 10:49 (eighteen years ago)

it seems to have laid off the endless random kitsch scando rubbish(-tmisim) a little

haha thank god.

the point of 'thank you' is that jamelia isn't angry!

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 7 September 2006 10:49 (eighteen years ago)

"Thank You'" is fucking dull. This is great, but would be a single of the year if it was just a little more... insane? Like if it just ended with Jamelia making animalistic grunts over a straight Depeche Mode beat jack.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:25 (eighteen years ago)

Also, PJ isn't solely written by Robinson these days anyway, I'd be surprised if he produces more than, I dunno, 30% of what goes on the front pages there these days. A lot of their more "questionable" recommendations (fucking Lorraine?) seem to come from staffers rather than the PJ Almighty himself.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:26 (eighteen years ago)

dom you just want all pop to be 'insane' and 'wacky' and 'lol'! that sounds awful (maybe someone else could do it but not jamelia).

'thank you' is v moving.

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:28 (eighteen years ago)

I don't want "all" pop to be insane, but an British R&B artist singing about teh kinky sex over a fucking DM sample should be a little more "out there", no?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:30 (eighteen years ago)

well i don't know, i've not heard it yet. gmail please! i don't altogether approve of the DM sample in the first place, really. if only because you keep having to read lame opinions like "omg 'sos' is so inventive and good pop and so much better than 'pon de replay'" which is just WRONG.

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:35 (eighteen years ago)

x-post -- Yeah but all DM songs are about kinky sex anyway, so it's a perfect fit.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:36 (eighteen years ago)

i find 'something about you' a lot more moving than 'thank you' tho they're quite different styles.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:37 (eighteen years ago)

"Pon De Replay" is a chorus in search of a verse it never finds. I dunno though, is it better than yr mainstream music critics "finally get" R&B because it takes in WORLD MUSIC INFLUENCES or because it samples some band they had their first school disco kiss to?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:39 (eighteen years ago)

er, no?

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:51 (eighteen years ago)

Explain with reference to at least two texts.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 7 September 2006 11:53 (eighteen years ago)

I'm kinda surprised there hasn't been more gushing over "Unfaithful". R&B as emo-lite? (Side-note: Aren't all Rihanna songs something-or-other-lite?)

― Post-Rodney (But no one called it that at the time) (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 7 September 2006 13:25 (eighteen years ago)

I haven't heard this but I'm bored to fuck of Personal Jesus and if any DM song should be sampled and laid to skittering beats and Jamelia's vocals it's Enjoy The Silence.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 7 September 2006 14:08 (eighteen years ago)

Wow, this "Numb" cover is pretty good. (I like the subtle almost Afro-Cuban conga too.) I already had a sort of love-hate relationship with that song, but this version is something else again.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Thursday, 7 September 2006 19:03 (eighteen years ago)

HOLY SHIT THAT PICTURE

― Young Fresh Danny D (Dan Perry), Thursday, 7 September 2006 20:30 (eighteen years ago)

I don't see what's so hot about her. She looks like NEW YORK from 'Flavor of Love.'

And the song is total tripe. The sample is far too obvious and, unlike Rihanna's "S.O.S.," the song isn't particulalry strong and is thus overpowered by the sample.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 7 September 2006 20:32 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe if you gave New York a LYSOL DOUCHE and a new face.

― Young Fresh Danny D (Dan Perry), Thursday, 7 September 2006 20:34 (eighteen years ago)

The riff is the worst part of "Personal Jesus" (the verse being the best)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 8 September 2006 00:04 (eighteen years ago)

I love the riff (Geir is wrong on both counts above) but oddly Jamelia's song fluffs it a bit, decountrifying it by scuzzing up the guitar until it sounds like a synth riff (did Jamelia discover Depeche Mode via Linkin Park, incidentally?). This is impressively loud and i may end up really liking it or not so much. Jamelia doesn't really climb on top of it.

What is it about these songs that they all have many more choruses than they should? These producers have all listened to "Strict Machine" a bit too closely perhaps.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 10 September 2006 12:59 (eighteen years ago)

Brainwasher is sooo OTM.

― Tape Store (Tape Store), Sunday, 10 September 2006 16:20 (eighteen years ago)

I still don't see why it is so difficult for people to write new songs rather than using songs already written. Cover versions is a bad idea, only beaten by sampling from other songs, which is an even worse idea.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 10 September 2006 18:26 (eighteen years ago)

So is your beef with Soft Cell or Rihanna?

― k!t brash (kit brash), Sunday, 10 September 2006 20:04 (eighteen years ago)

Well, Rihanna stole the only part of that Soft Cell song that was originally composed by Soft Cell. My beef is mainly with Jamelia though (and with everybody else who has done the same thing since the late 80s)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 10 September 2006 21:13 (eighteen years ago)

I wonder what will be the next shuffly sample from an old pop song to form the basis of a new second-tier R&B track?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 10 September 2006 21:43 (eighteen years ago)

T. Rex ahoy.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 10 September 2006 21:47 (eighteen years ago)

I can almost in a weird sideway way meet halfway the idea of being "against" sampling in general principle, but cover versions in general? That's what music is! That's how music came to be! It's how music has continued to evolve. That one just boggles me.

― Period period period (Period period period), Sunday, 10 September 2006 22:05 (eighteen years ago)

Well, music would never have occured in the first place if nobody was writing original music.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 10 September 2006 22:15 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe, pre-sampling, it was more the case that new music happened when people tried to cover and recreate things inexpertly.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 11 September 2006 01:27 (eighteen years ago)

The whole album is tremendous, by the way.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 11 September 2006 02:37 (eighteen years ago)

I haven't heard this and already I think it sucks (I hate the Rihanna song)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 11 September 2006 03:29 (eighteen years ago)

I mean I'd much prefer an R&B song that samples "What's Your Name" or "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead."

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 11 September 2006 03:31 (eighteen years ago)

i heard another new jamelia song over the weekend. i can't remember what it was called. it had loud guitars in the chorus. it was Not Very Good At All :(

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 11 September 2006 06:11 (eighteen years ago)

despite featuring Sway and Bambaatta the album is a chunk of meh, its not bad, but its fairly standard r-n-b pop.

re the Depeche Mode sampling track - tis perfect radio fodder, and co-written with Stuart Crichton from @440, which kind of makes sense.

― mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 07:30 (eighteen years ago)

i heard another new jamelia song over the weekend. i can't remember what it was called. it had loud guitars in the chorus. it was Not Very Good At All :(

that may be 'something about you' which is the single out now and Rather Good In Actual Fact.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 08:02 (eighteen years ago)

yes that was it. it's terrible! really really boring.

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 08:08 (eighteen years ago)

SO MOVING

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 08:11 (eighteen years ago)

HORRIBLE REAL INSTRUMENTS

not a patch on beyoncé!

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 08:13 (eighteen years ago)

Irreplaceable > Something About You

but

Walk With Me > B'Day

― danzig (danzig), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 08:33 (eighteen years ago)

is walk with me the album? what's it like generally, what style and so on? if the two lead singles are boring rock ballad (yawn) and depeche mode sample (zzz) i don't hold out much hope for it being better than b'day, which is quite something.

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 08:40 (eighteen years ago)

right, Walk With Me is a very poppy R&B record. Lots of great tracks, I don't think "Beware of the Dog" is my fave anymore. Yes, there is a bit of rock but not much - "Do Me Right" is a brilliant bhangra banger featuring Afrika Bambaata, "Window Shopping" reminds me of a cross between Girls Aloud's "Models" and "Watch Me Go", "Know My Name" has Jamelia being smarky over something kind of crunky, "Get Up, Get Out" has Jamelia throwing her man out over some garage beats while she rants "you fucking do it again." Brilliant. "Hustle" is a nice dance track that features Sway! There aren't too many ballads, one features a harpsichord, one sounds like the Sugababes. The songs are all catchy, I wouldn't say there is any filler, and more importantly, it's the sound of Jamelia having fun.

― danzig (danzig), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:22 (eighteen years ago)

There aren't any _real_ ballads. I wrote a bit about the album on teh dormant blog.

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:36 (eighteen years ago)

1) where is yr blog these days ed?
2) how come the 'online pop community' is paying attention to this but not beyoncé?

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:39 (eighteen years ago)

ooh, swearing.

― rtccc (mwah), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:49 (eighteen years ago)

2) how come the 'online pop community' is paying attention to this but not beyoncé?

RACISM

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:58 (eighteen years ago)

Lex I think it's partly because Beyonce sounds so grown up these days.

(sounding grown up is not a bad thing, just a thing)

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:00 (eighteen years ago)

'grown-up'!!!???!!!

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:01 (eighteen years ago)

the jamelia single is the DEFN of boring grown-up soft r&b-rock!

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:02 (eighteen years ago)

Also arguably sections of the "online pop community" fetishise failed or barely-successful chart-pop over actual conquering chart-pop, especially when the example of the latter in question also has widespread critical acceptance.

Haven't heard the Jamelia single yet so can't comment on that.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:03 (eighteen years ago)

haha yes, this is what frustrates me about them and why i can never be part of them, it's so WRONG! "let's turn up our noses at beyoncé/justin/ciara/cassie and try to get people to listen to obscure scandoshit and failed xenomania side-projects from 2001" aargh.

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:08 (eighteen years ago)

Google blogsearch results for: jamelia 'walk with me": 88
Google blogsearch results for: beyonce 'b-day': 5751

Cheers for that one Lex!

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:12 (eighteen years ago)

it's true, lex will never be part of the online pop community.

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:14 (eighteen years ago)

Web Results 1 - 10 of about 477 from www.popjustice.com for beyonce. (0.19 seconds)
Web Results 1 - 10 of about 127 from www.popjustice.com for jamelia. (0.03 seconds)

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:18 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.roennebech.dk/www_fredericiashistorie/html/fredericia/lex/billeder/Petard.gif

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:19 (eighteen years ago)

Lex, I think you're being a bit unfair here, I think it's actually one of the values of Popjustice etc. that they expose me to fairly low-profile pop projects - which would otherwise be much more obscure than most indie music etc. What's the point of trying to "break" Beyonce or Cassie to readers, especially when chart-topping R&B has been pretty widely embraced by all and sundry? I mean, I just wrote Beyonce and JT reviews for Pitchfork - what's the point of Popjustice etc. jumping on board?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:20 (eighteen years ago)

To go back to Geir's gripe, i was gonna say sampling other big hits in pop in this way seems fairly novel - but then i remembered Soho's 'Hippy Chick' which pretty much did the same thing (sample a song's hook but write a completely different song over it) and there's probably loads of other old examples (i'm not just talking about sampling itself or hip-hop style way of doing it but creating a whole different pop song out of it). re-imagining in this way is good tho, even if it doesn't always work out.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:24 (eighteen years ago)

I don't know where Lex has got this idea that the 'online pop community' has turned its nose at beyonce. Popjustice isn't the only online pop site, and has been featuring the new Beyonce/JT/Kelis/Christina Aguilera for months now. True, it has ignored Cassie and Ciara - but it never was one for American crunk.

― danzig (danzig), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:32 (eighteen years ago)

What's the point of trying to "break" Beyonce or Cassie to readers

the point of popjustice wasn't to 'break' new acts (when it started), it was about reflecting pop-as-in-popular music which didn't get much critical respect.

i would not mind the low-profile pop acts if any of them were any good.

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:50 (eighteen years ago)

i guess pj thinks they're good...

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:50 (eighteen years ago)

pj never evolved a criticism as such anyway.

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

If this sampling thing survives, in 20 years time people will sample the main riff from the Jamelia hit or Rihanna hit, believing it was actually from those, and then in yet another 20 years...

Sampling prevents the world from having new great hooks and songs.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 13:48 (eighteen years ago)

Ain't that the truth.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 13:49 (eighteen years ago)

How many new great hooks or songs can there really be? Are any of them achievable with just an acoustic guitar/TB-303 or has it all been done with that?

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 13:50 (eighteen years ago)

How many new great hooks or songs can there really be?

Still enough for hundreds and hundreds of years to come.

Are any of them achievable with just an acoustic guitar/TB-303 or has it all been done with that?

Lots and lots and lots of great songs and hooks are yet to be done.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 13:54 (eighteen years ago)

how can you be so sure?

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 13:58 (eighteen years ago)

haha i love that steve's two fundamental instruments are the guitar and the... 303.

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 13:59 (eighteen years ago)

how can you be so sure?

Because there are still great songs being written. Just that they don't dominate the hitlists anymore the way they did in the 60s or 70s.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 14:00 (eighteen years ago)

Because there are still great songs being written.

but how many of them don't make you think 'oh that sounds like insert-older-similar-song-here'? the hook being the usual reason for that.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 14:02 (eighteen years ago)

most people are stuck in verse-chorus-verse territory, further narrowing the options. right geir?

― a rapper singing about hos and bitches and money (Enrique), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 14:08 (eighteen years ago)

The world's resources of good songs will be exhausted by 2060 if we continue at our current rate of consumption!

― Rodney doesn't dance, he boogies. (R. J. Greene), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 14:18 (eighteen years ago)

two months pass...

I like the song, but

-it's all chorus! The chorus loses its punch after a while. There's no bridge, and the verses are really short.
-it overuses the riff. "Freak Like Me" used different parts of "Are Friends Electric" throughout the song, so the final "good for meeeee" part when they bring out the big sample really kicks your ass.
-Dom OTM; the song is called "Beware of the Dog"...she could have really let loose vocally, but instead it's fairly controlled.

― musically (musically), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 03:19 (eighteen years ago)

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