Not bad but nothing new
After listening to Cherryfalls’ new offering, ‘In Your Arms Again’, on repeat for about half an hour, I’ve only just managed to raise enough inspiration to write anything about it. A release of this mediocrity just doesn’t arouse any passion at all: not bad enough for a diatribe, but far too bland to rave about. It’s about as close as music can get to actually defining the word ‘average’.
It’s perfect Top of the Pops material. Inoffensive, commercial rock for the masses who yearn to be the understated, musical minority. Lyrically, it’s that old clichéd apology to a former lover – “What I said and did, I didn’t mean it anyway / What I wouldn’t give to be in your arms again...” – which might have roused an ‘aww’ the first time you heard them, but after being used by approximately six and a half million artists, it’s beginning to seem a little contrived. It follows the standard ‘verse-chorus-middle’ pattern that’s become painfully commonplace these days, with all the loud-quiet dynamics such a structure requires. Don’t take this the wrong way – it’s not done badly. It just been done to death.
The chorus melody’s nice, and it certainly has that uplifting feel that gets you nodding and humming along without realising. But is that all that’s required for a hit these days? If so, expect this to be in the charts for weeks. If you prefer justice in the music industry, perhaps it shouldn’t be.