Song of the Week: On The Metro by Girls Aloud

If you think Something New was a bit noisy, this other ‘new stuff’ coming from ‘Ten’ (the latest greatest hits compilation of Girls Aloud) should do the trick. This ‘new stuff’ is called On The Metro and surprisingly did not come from the minds of the creative Xenomania team. Rather, The Invisible Men and DJ Fresh call the shots and the results are splendid. Also, it has to be said that the writing prowess of Nicola Roberts (hell yes) is utilized finely in this single.

Despite the amazingness that Something New produced, one could not help but feel that the track did possess some genericness in it. On The Metro does not have that genericness. Instead, the first listen will instantly wow the listener with the song’s smart electropop gloss doing what it is supposed to do. The chorus packs a whole lot of conviction and is one of the song’s strongest suits. The verses do feel right as well. Nicola possesses the most soothing vocal in the track considering how she did her verses. Nadine, meanwhile, comes in with a lot of power and uses this well when the big notes come in. Cheryl and Sarah feed off each other’s energy in those verses and that certainly did not hurt the track’s quality. People may fall in love too with the way Kimberley executed that middle eight too. The way On The Metro was managed is worthy of praise. The right people sang the right parts of the track. In other words, proper placement of those vocals from the girls was present.

I may be overwhelmingly positive of this track but I cannot help myself remembering All Fired Up by The Saturdays while listening to the chorus. I do not mean any offense but that bit in the chorus is eerily similar to the Xenomania-produced track by The Saturdays (who are trying to crack the US market at the present). A friend also remarked that the track has Mini Viva vibes in it. I cannot help but agree. A similarity is present. To be specific, Mini Viva left their hearts at Tokyo while Girls Aloud left theirs at the disco.

There are tons of lyrical brilliance waiting to be unearthed in the track. Personal favorite would be “We danced two hours minimum / Put me in a sweet delirium” simply because I rarely hear the word ‘delirium’ being used so effectively in a pop track.

The girls are really back and it is time for you to appreciate such greatness coming from them.

Ten, the latest greatest hits compilation from Girls Aloud is now out!