[rating:70/100]
Dan Black grabbed everyone’s attention last year with his incredibly infectious debut single “Yours.” This song, with help of riveting synths and earworm hooks, landed Dan Black on the BBC’s Sound of 09 (along with Lady GaGa, La Roux, Little Boots, Kid Cudi, and Passion Pit) and major ups from NME, assuring him major success in his native UK. It’s just barely April, but even I have started double-guessing the BBC’s claims. I hadn’t heard a suitable successor for “Yours.” At least until now.

Where “Yours” was upbeat and almost peppy, “U + Me” slows things down, just slightly, while still keeping the powerful and moving synths. Where “Yours” was riddled with spiteful, in-your-face lyrics, “U + Me,” as you might have guessed, comes with lyrics that are as passive as they are endearingly naive and clumsy: “up with the winds, up with the skies, up with the fears, you know with you I’m fine.” Regardless of naivety or clumsiness, this string of words will undoubtedly go down as one of 2009’s memorable bridges. Listen to it, along with the rest of the song below: Continue reading →