girls aloud - "wild horses" (from the chemistry album, import available for purchase here.)

in brief : pop brilliance down to a science.

a cursory glance at song titles like "long hot summer," "no regrets," and "wild horses" and one begins to fear the worse; as w/ what will the neighbours say?, we have more cover versions imposed by either charities or soundtracks.

w/ no small measure of relief, i'm happy to report that this is the case on none of the aforementioned tracks, and girls aloud's "wild horses" couldn't be more different from the stones's. it starts w/ a surprise--which is, really, how all girls aloud records start--and it's a surprise that gives it something in common w/ another stones hit; the opening fifteen seconds sound like a medieval hymn, only to give way to the 21st century at the flip of a switch ... or maybe to 1989, as it kicks off w/ a rap not unlike neneh cherry's "buffalo stance." after that, it takes on the momentum of a runaway train--the whistling, too.

the concept on chemistry is loosely about science; and so the train whistles on the chorus of "wild horses" change in pitch, in a remarkable demonstration of the doppler effect. they sing, "it's taken a long time" at a lower pitch; they then sing, "get out of town and take your lazy dog w/ you" at a higher pitch, indicating that the train is nearer. you might say i'm giving xenomania--in tandem w/ the girls, the most potent producer / performer team since tim & missy--too much credit. i'd say that, right now, that's impossible.