Laura Welsh - 45

Some of you may be aware of or have watched BBC 1’s new singing talent show The Voice. We’re struggling with the concept of the show (and admit we’ve not actually got as far as watching it) because the strap line is that the competition is about one thing and one thing only; the voice. The clue is in the title. (Note to self - rename blog 'The New Music Blog'). The auditions are carried out without the judges being able to see the contestants.

We have two issues with this concept that are quite straightforward and obvious.

      1. Pop music has never been just about The Voice. If it was, everyone from The Sex Pistols to Britney Spears would have got nowhere.

      2. It’s a TV show. Ultimately the audience choose the winner – just like X Factor. With a TV show it’s never just about ‘The Voice’. Otherwise why not put it on the radio or not show the contestants at all?

      Despite our issues, for the purposes of this blog post let’s play our own version of The Voice. This is a song by Laura Welsh called 45. We introduced her last month and mentioned this song then, but please don’t go back to that post unless like a judge on The Voice, you like what you hear and want to see what she looks like. It’s why we’ve posted an abstract picture from Laura’s tumblr above – it doesn’t give any clues. Just press play and listen. Good huh? Well if you agree with what we said in our previous blog post that the song is “of Olympic proportions -the kind of song we imagine that X-Factor contestants will be covering in three years from now when everyone really has had enough of Adele / Whitney / Amy / Lana / Mariah (delete as appropriate) cover versions,” and you want to download it for free, you can by clicking on the arrow below.

There that was fun wasn’t it? And no Jessie J or that bloke out of The Script in sight either.

Laura Welsh - 45