Numb – Madeline Rosene (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Why do most young popsters follow the same old music templates when they can, as Madeline Rosene does here, gene-splice the genre with some much more sassy and seductive vibes? And here’s another s-word for you, sultry! Numb is a sensual (sorry, that one was totally unplanned) slice of pop which is woven through with sassy latin grooves and a sleazy, Tex-Mex vibe, cocktail bar jazz and an old school, blues diva confidence, a mix of sounds which suggests that a phone call from Tarantino about his latest film score is just a day or two away! Well, you never know.

Here, she plays the desensitised starlet performing for the pleasure of the crowd, totally numb to their games and manipulations, their adulation and advances and in doing so delivers the song with the right blend of charm and world weary detachment. Bass lines meander and underpin, cool shards of guitar fly out in all directs, beats are unfussy and to the point but more than that, the song shows us that pop music can be much more astute than the throw away pap that most people are content with. Why settle for merely being popular… which is obviously the derivation of the term pop… when you can be seen to be smart, authentic and mature too?