We all have that one guilty pleasure tune that we just can’t bear to move on from. Our writers dish out their most-loved nostalgic tunes, albeit ones they only ever listen to in secret!
Demi Lovato – ‘La La Land’
Demi Lovato was EVERYWHERE on Disney Channel back in the day, and her tune ‘La La Land’ would pop up in the adverts between Sonny with a Chance and Hannah Montana all the time. I was obsessed with it at the time, and still kind of love it now, despite its obvious cringeyness. This was definitely Lovato in her fledgling songwriter stage; the lyrics are…. bad, to put it bluntly. ”I’m not a supermodel/ I still eat MacDonalds/ That’s just me”? It’s not exactly poetry, and REEKS of the whole ‘I’m not like other girls’ trend. However, Lovato’s delivery in ‘La La Land’ is fantastic, despite the cringey lyrics; her singing is snappy, yet she really shows off her vocals in the chorus, belting out its leading lyrics. I wouldn’t necessarily say that ‘La La Land’ has stood the test of time (Lovato has certainly released better music in recent years), but the song does still get stuck in my head from time to time, and every frame of that music video is etched into my memory. You can’t deny that it’s a catchy tune!
Alice Fortt
‘La La Land’ is available to listen to now via Hollywood Records, Inc.
N-Dubz ft. Mr Hudson – ‘Playing With Fire’
Picture the scene, you’re in primary school circa 2010 and you’ve just downloaded the latest N-Dubz song to your iPod. Honestly, after the band’s infamous collaboration with Tinchy Stryder for ‘Number 1’ a year prior you’re expecting big things – and oh boy do they deliver. ‘Playing With Fire’ couldn’t be a catchier tune, with the classic N-Dubz ‘nana, naeee’ sound at the beginning of the tracks to the notable blend of Dappy‘s harsh lyricism and Tulisa’s softer notes. If you knew me in 2020 you would have known I couldn’t stop listening to this song, to the point my parents had to introduce me to new music. The hip hop scene in the early 2000s was a vast place, yet N-Dubz somehow found their spot and grounded themselves in it for a good few years, then they suddenly seemed to drop off the map with Dappy releasing some of his own questionable songs. Let’s be honest, I still listen to ‘Playing With Fire’ every so often as it oozes that nostalgia, throwing me back to easier days where music was one of my main concerns. It’s a tune; always has been, always will be.
Katie Evans
‘Playing With Fire’ is available to listen to now via All Around the World Ltd.
Bridget Mendler – ‘Ready or Not’
From the opening “He-e-ey / he-e-ey / ooooh”, Bridget Mendler‘s ‘Ready or Not’ will instantly transport you back to 2012, landing you in the prime of Disney Channel popstars. Annoying, despite being a cheesy generic 2010s pop song, it’s hard not to fall in love with ‘Ready or Not’, and even harder to get it out of your head once Mendler starts singing. The lyrics are truly awful, with painfully 2010s lines like “I’m kinda shy but, you’re super fly, yeah” and an even worse chorus, “ready or not, here I come / I like your face, do you like my song? / Just sing it la la la la la la la and I’ll find you”. However, all of this aside, I can’t help but belt my heart out along with Mendler and dance each time the song plays. If there was a definitive guilty pleasure song definition, ‘Ready or Not’ would be it.
Maddie Lock
‘Ready or Not’ is available to listen to now via Hollywood Records, Inc.
Nickelback – ‘If Today Was Your Last Day’
I pride myself in having a somewhat secured music taste made up of soundtracks and a few favourite artists; I rarely deviate from those. That being said, I grew up around a dozen or more albums in my dad’s car, being played on repeat. Nickelback‘s records are perhaps the ones that stick out the most to me… purely because I still might listen to them sometimes. It might be a bit embarrassing, but if I hear ‘If Today Was Your Last Day’ and have a proper jam session to it, then my day is made.
There seems to be a dislike towards the band from somewhere, but I never really understood it. Some of their hit singles aren’t that bad! ‘Burn it to the Ground’ is a great heavy sing along, and ‘Gotta be Somebody’ from their album Dark Horse just perfectly encapsulates the alt-rock sound that defined the late-noughties. As shameful as it might seem to say, I genuinely enjoy their music. In fact, the whole of Dark Horse is full of great tunes.
And now they’ve done a sea shanty version of ‘Rockstar’?! I might be tempted to give them a second look.
Louise Chase
‘If Today Was Your Last Day’ is available to listen to now via The All Blacks B.V.
