Song 2

This week we are dialling the calendars all the way back to 1993 as we are revisiting Jame’s breakthrough album, Laid and their standout cut Sometimes.

Yes, we all know that the 1990 single Sit Down is still a favourite in student unions and weddings, but Sit Down was not even on the track listing for the original release of Gold Mother… it was track 7 on the 1991 re-release and the opening track on the US version. Sometimes is about as full-throated a singalong as you can possibly get.

"There's a reason why there's an entrée and a main course, you know..."

In this week’s Song 2, Clémentine Delauney of both Exit Eden AND Visions Of Atlantis offers up her view of where the second song lies in terms of prominence and importance. Exit Eden released their latest LP, Femme Fatale earlier this year, and Visions Of Atlantis have just announced Pirates II – Armada. Check out my interview with Clementine on RTL Play. Cheers.

We’ve held off for three seasons before breaking the emergency glass on this classic

It took till the 5th record and a song written as a joke for blur to temporarily break America. Song 2 inspired this podcast and is, ironically or not, the quintessential Song 2 pudding prover.

"For me track listing is very specific to the album and from album to album, I never order things based on what I think a certain track number should be"

What An Enormous Room by Torres (AKA Mackenzie Scott) came out earlier this year and is ace. Torres does not agree with Song 2... At. All. And my dreams are thus shattered.

In this week’s Song 2 Episode we are foregoing silly head wear and possibly ill-advised cultural appropriation

There's always been the gnawing doubt that the flak Jay Kay got at the time of Jamiroquai’s was a little unfair. Sure, the headlines grabbed in the early 00’s were not great but Jamiroquai’s tunes stand up incredibly well. None more so than Too Young To Die, the second cut lifted from the 1993 album Emergency on Planet Earth.

"How do we hit them hard over the head...right off the bat... here's all our rage... and then, here's where we are crying about it?"

Ill Peach’s LP, This Is Not An Exit, was one of my picks for 2023. Here, Jess and Pat are on the scenic route to a sort of, possibly, could be answer to Song 2. Track listing is important. Incredibly so. But tone and tempo are key drivers too.

This week we are taking a look at the beautiful, beguiling and breathy White Winter Hymnal from Seattle indie-folk band, Fleet Foxes.

"White Winter Hymnal" is the first single from Fleet Foxes released by European label Bella Union on July 21, 2008 and arguably remains to this day the band’s best known song.

“I think anyone you will speak to you on this will tell you that very real blood, sweat and tears go into sequencing”

Now that we can confirm that they are going to be hitting the Grand Duchy’s den Atelier on the 30th May, we can finally get to the dapper The Vaccines frontman Justin Young and his take on the Song 2 merry go round. Don’t forget to book tickets for the show on atelier.lu and listen to my two-part interview with Justin available on RTL Play.

On this week's Song 2, we’re taking a look at a rather emotional song that was a breakout for its star performer AND the precursor to a much bigger tune.

Now, let’s be clear here, I am not the authority to speak on Juice WRLD, that honour would to my two teenage sons – who may yet be struck down with MEGA cringe upon hearing this – fortunately I have had some assistance in getting this piece but together by Maja (our clued-up intern).

“If the first track is like a punch in the face, the second one needs to be a little calmer… at least for a couple of minutes”

This one has been a little while in the Song 2 queue, Haken’s most recent LP Fauna came out in 2023 and when the band passed by the Grand Duchy for a show at the Rockhal we of course caught up with riff master Richard Henshall, who finds the second song concept interesting, if not conclusive. We will file this one in the maybe folder... for now.