“Our love for music is only matched by our desire to ‘be the change’ and ‘find the voice’ to speak up, for ourselves, and the world around us”. That’s how Australian pop duo Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, better known as the Veronicas, described their latest single ‘If You Love Someone’ on their Facebook page. How lovely, one might think.
How sad it is, then, that ‘If You Love Someone’ fails to glisten in the same vein, and provide nothing more than a baffling mishmash of pop-cheese and electro beats dressed up ominously as political activism. If the odd use of a horribly juxtaposed Jimi Hendrix quote isn’t enough to put you off, then maybe the kissing montages and perplexing dance routines will in the single’s video will.
What follows is an assortment of tropes taken straight out of the pop music bargain bin. Heaved with a remarkably stale melody and the uninspiring combination of acoustic guitar and soft-pop percussion, the Veronicas have taken what could have been an interesting diversion from their electro-pop sound into a cutesy cringe-fest of poptastical characterlessness. Void of pretty much any creativity whatsoever, The Veronicas latest single is a vacuum of recycled pop tropes and tepid song-writing.
The accompanying music video is equally as jittery as the song itself. “If you love someone than tell them right now, ‘cause your heart wont rest ’til you let it out”, the sisters sing together in harmony, as they perplexingly make their way through an air hanger filled with awkward dancers and skateboarders, over a backdrop of cheesy-breezy synthesisers and a shingly guitar. As a standout pop record, it falls categorically as one of the most mediocre and forgettable records of the year so far. Despite that, the Veronicas know their market, and ‘If You Love Someone’ resonates as a mid-afternoon BBC Radio 1 wet dream. The real crux of the song though is that it’s just not enjoyable, inspiring or thought provoking to listen to.
The concept of a song tackling the idea of free-love, cultural acceptance and peace isn’t new to 2015. Clean Bandit’s esquire blend of classical strings and dance rhythms on their track ‘Real Love’ featuring Jess Glynne preached a similar message as the Veronicas, and currently sits at thirty-eight in the UK singles charts after peaking at number two in late 2014. Crucially, the Origliasso sister’s concept with ‘If You Love Someone’ was exercised in a baffling and boring manner, disguising a rather simple yet emotive message up as some sort of political free-for-all featuring the eternally creepy ‘anonymous’ mask.
Overall, The Veronicas, two identical twin sisters, have produced a piece of music which is vastly un-identical to the rest of their repertoire. ‘If You Love Someone’ is lukewarm at its best, and excruciatingly tawdry at its worst.