This post goes out to anyone who has ever woken up and immediately started regretting their life choices. One of the songs in this faceoff is about your entire life falling apart due to your own hubris, and the other one is about a relationship that should never have begun in the first place. I personally have never been in either of these situations, so I’ll take their word for it. In case you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about “Karma” by Anxhela Peristeri of Albania and “The Wrong Place” by Hooverphonic of Belgium, respectively.
Anxhela Peristeri wishes karma onto… herself?
“Step One: Get everyone’s attention. A powerful, majestic start.” You may remember this line from the beginning of the “Love Love Peace Peace” performance in 2016. Anxhela Peristeri starts her entry off with a dramatic banging of the drums (to be played live by “gorgeous, topless men” perhaps?). Although she features string instruments and what looks like a clarinet in her music video, I don’t hear those instruments in the actual song. It sounds like a mix of traditional instruments and EDM.
To go with this hard-hitting background music, she has a powerful voice to compete for the listener’s attention. I actually think the background music is a tad too distracting. Perhaps this song would sound better if it was more mournful than powerful. But I understand that the epic background music makes for an epic stage. On the other hand, maybe Anxhela Peristeri’s voice alone could have carried the performance. Also, regarding the lyrics, it’s funny how conditioned I am to assume that when people mention karma in their songs, they’re always talking about someone else. It pleases me that Anxhela Peristeri didn’t fall into that pattern.
Hooverphonic has a new (old) lead singer?
Don’t laugh, but it took doing a bit of research into the band for me to realize they switched their lead vocalist. Apparently, Geike Arnaert was their longest running lead singer before leaving. If I’m being honest, I preferred Luka’s voice from last year and their entry as well. The Skyfall vibes appealed to me more, even though overall I thought that song was a little slow for my taste.
It’s hard to give my opinion of this song when I’m not a huge fan of the genre. Two things stood out to me while listening. First of all, the line about the Johnny Cash t-shirt was off-putting, but that was probably intentional. It doesn’t rhyme with the other lines in the chorus and she sings it with a little bit of anger. I don’t think the lyric was hard-hitting enough, though. However, the line “you’re in the wrong place” definitely gave me chills. That low, rumbly voice doubling underneath Geike’s strongly expresses the ominous foreboding of this ex-lover. That’s the part that stays in my head after hearing this song.
Who has my vote (for now)?
It’s starting to sound like I have a thing against traditional sounding music, but I slightly prefer Belgium’s entry over Albania’s. That being said, this style of alternative rock is not one I enjoy listening to much. However, it’s always nice to see all of the different genres represented in the contest regardless of whether it’s enjoyed by the majority. Play on, Hooverphonic.