Umk24 - Blog Posts
UMK 2024 Song Review - Sini Sabotage
The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö continues with another rap entry!
Sini Sabotage - Kuori Mua
Sini Sabotage is one of the best known Finnish artists but at the same time one of the rare female rappers in the country. She started her career with a banger Levikset Repee roughly a decade ago and has since released 3 studio albums and multiple radio hits. She has fought her way to the top.
Despite of being somewhat a dream name for UMK for years the idea of sending her new Kuori Mua song to the competition was actually proposed to her by the songwriters and producers.
Kuori Mua which means peel me in Finnish is bold even as a title. If you're familiar with her personality and music you'll notice how this instantly fits her like a glove.
Kuori Mua begins with inviting piano notes and moves quickly to the electronic beat. The song has heat, rush - it tells you how to move and focus. This screams gay anthem. All the banger elements are here and they're well produced.
The lyrics and beat are energetic and sensual - some might be irritated by the Finglish here but I'm not a Finnish rap expert enough to say if this is common for Finnish rap. Chorus is a bit flat, it doesn't bunch me as I'd wish it would. This needs several listens even though it is memorable though. Musically I especially enjoy the beginning of the second verse and the bridge here. The piano based moments give the juiciest sounds. The song improves towards the end but still doesn't meet the expectations in my opinion.
Kuori Mua is not on top of the Youtube and Spotify lists when comparing the UMK24 tracks and I think it hasn't grown to become the banger they'd hoped for even in domestic levels.
What comes to the live performance music video promises several options and it must be big since this has been chosen to start the UMK show on Saturday (Feb 10th). I have no doubt she wouldn't be able to deliver this live.
What do you think of the sixt UMK24 track and would you vote for Sini Sabotage to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!
UMK 2024 Song Review - Sara Siipola
The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö continues with a ballad this time!
Sara Siippola - Paskana
Sara Siipola is fairly a new name in the sky of Finnish female artists. She kind of popped out of nowhere making a record deal with Sony Music in 2019 and releasing her first singles which were fairly successful. She also released her debut album "Kaunis Kun Itken" two years later and last year she was seen in popular music tv-show "Tähdet, Tähdet".
Still never heard of of her before and the artist announcement did nothing to me.
Paskana is power song that gives no hope. It's very raw lyrically and vocally.
It's a modern ballad with immediate hook. The song itself is not a traditional power ballad but does instrumentally push its boundaries. The electronic beat has 80's sound which also reminds many of the Russian girl duo t.A.T.u's sound. R'n'b beat separates it from an average ESC ballad and makes this super easy to listen.
Sara's voice can be compared to Amy Winehouse's being capable of interpreting the painful text brilliantly. The topic of being "paskana" which is translated as fucking wreck, is easily relatable. Social media quickly filled on Monday night with heartfelt comments from people around the world crying and feeling this song.
This is simply captivating - you can't pass this without stopping to listen to this and feeling what she sings. This will translate across language barriers.
ESC doesn't allow swearing so in case of winning UMK Sara would have to find another title for her song which might be a difficult task. There have been hopes of her translating this into English or pieces of it but I do hope this masterpiece remained in Finnish. Also this would differ quite a lot from our previous ESC entries. The last time we heard a female ballad from Finland was in 2017 with NormaJohn.
In a scenario where she didn't win UMK she might be the next Bess (Ram pam pam, 2022) or Kuumaa (Ylivoimainen, 2023) which either were the winning acts but made the biggest hits of their careers with the help of UMK. Reactions have been positive everywhere you go and her UMK videoclip has already been viewed over 240 000 (more than Sexmane) times. She's on her way to stardom!
What do you think of the third UMK24 track and would you vote for Sara Siipola to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!
UMK 2024 Song Review - Cyan Kicks
Again the hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö has officially started!
Cyan Kicks - Dancing With Demons
Cyan Kicks is a Finnish alternative rock/electric pop band established back in 2016. They had their big break in UMK 2022 when they came second with Hurricane losing to The Rasmus. I do remember for rooting for Hurricane two years ago!
Since then, they've been busy with making music and touring around Europe. This shows. They've also mentioned themselves the growth of confidence and experience, and especially the vocalist Susanna. This time around they're bolder and loader but still not losing their familiar energy and sound. But it's inevitable to compare their 2024 entry to Hurricane of UMK22 and perhaps their biggest contestant might actually be themselves from two years ago.
For many the 22 entry was instantly memorable and still is and the question is can DWD do the same?
Dancing With The Demons is the first of seven UMK24 entries to be released. And what a start it is!
The song is kicked off with a promising electronic beat and it builds up nicely towards the first chorus which I have to admit I'm slightly disappointed that it's not grabbing enough. Personally I'm liking the second verse and Susanna's interpretation of the lyrics here. I even saw somewhere a Lady Gaga comparison.
Instrumentally this is very rich and there's a lot to take in. Lots of volume which makes me worry if Susanna's vocals which are rather light in here, are strong enough to carry it through? Even though I know she can sing live obviously. As seconds turn into minutes there's more volume, more instruments and more noise coming up!
A lot of people have criticized the bridge but my musical (rock) taste is generic enough to love it actually. I'm loving the "follow me's" here. In three minutes it's tricky to get an instrumental part squeezed in but DWD manages to do just that. The whole band is clearly involved in this with 150% and musically this can be quite overwhelming. The ending is as load as the beginning. Lyrically not the best of songs but this wasn't the band's strong suit in 2022 either.
This is well and heavily produced track that can be blamed of sounding a slightly bit too mainstream and plastic lacking originality and organic sound. However, this is a question of personal taste. Live performance we don't need to worry with this entry because as we remember from UMK 22 - they'll nail it.
Visually this is impressive. Susanna and the band rocking under the rain (she was actually with fever when shooting the video!) and everything we see supports what we hear. Sexy, load, wet, explosive. It's actually difficult to listen the song without its video because that's how astonishing it is! And the pair clearly belongs together. UMK music videos have come a long way!
What do you think of the first UMK24 track and would you vote for Cyan Kicks to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!