Do you remember Bradley Johnson? The former X Factor contestant overcame school expulsions, arrests and underage binge drinking to reach the giddy heights of the X Factor live shows. Bradley and his band Nu Vibe were voted off the show to save pasty-faced womanizer Frankie Cocozza, but now he’s back, solo, and coming at us like a curved Australian stick.
If I were to tell you that Bradley’s new single 'Boomerang' is a mighty pop masterpiece able to compete with the Olympian Gods of One Direction and JLS, then I would be lying to you. It’s a fairly typical pop song driven by synths and electronic drumbeats, and it wouldn’t sound out of place blasting from the speakers at a school disco. Despite this, I don’t think the song is bold enough to make a deep impression upon the musical landscape. For one, it lacks any kind of distinct personality, mainly due to the bastardisation of Bradley’s voice by the polish of the dreaded auto-tune. It’s clear from his X Factor appearance that Bradley has a strong enough voice to carry off something more interesting than this. Last year he was a bad-boy with a wild chord up his sleeve, surprising the room with his delicate rendition of Ed Sheeran’s 'The A Team', but 'Boomerang' strays away from simplicity and nuance and hits you over the head with generic mid-nineties pop pleasantries.
In the video, the seventeen year old Bradley wears a leather jacket and an ear stud, exuding a casual air of teenage menace, cashing in on his reputation as a bit of a lad, a bit of a tearaway. But the appeal of the bad-boy often lies in his inner vulnerability, and that’s why people still remember Bradley Johnson's audition back in 2011. They remember the Scouse skally who turned his life around and wasn’t afraid of showing how he felt through meek Ed Sheeran ballads, so it’s a shame that 'Boomerang' ignores this highly appealing quality.
The fans that loved Bradley last year will no doubt love him still, but the rest of us may have to wait until he comes up with something a bit more substantial.
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If I were to tell you that Bradley’s new single 'Boomerang' is a mighty pop masterpiece able to compete with the Olympian Gods of One Direction and JLS, then I would be lying to you. It’s a fairly typical pop song driven by synths and electronic drumbeats, and it wouldn’t sound out of place blasting from the speakers at a school disco. Despite this, I don’t think the song is bold enough to make a deep impression upon the musical landscape. For one, it lacks any kind of distinct personality, mainly due to the bastardisation of Bradley’s voice by the polish of the dreaded auto-tune. It’s clear from his X Factor appearance that Bradley has a strong enough voice to carry off something more interesting than this. Last year he was a bad-boy with a wild chord up his sleeve, surprising the room with his delicate rendition of Ed Sheeran’s 'The A Team', but 'Boomerang' strays away from simplicity and nuance and hits you over the head with generic mid-nineties pop pleasantries.
