(18.05.2012)
Far East Movement ft. Bill Kaulitz, “If I Die Tomorrow”
Far*East Movement has a song out with the lead singer of Tokio Hotel. And we can all stop, all of us, calling this collaboration “unexpected.” (That means Far East Mover Kev Nish, mainly, but also MTV–if you can even say “wonder no more,” then you’ve basically laid out expectations.) Far*East Movement traffics in collaborations with up-and-coming pop artists like Rye Rye or Dev or Justin Bieber (up-and-coming in the sense that when “Live My Life” came out, people still thought he was 14 with a Disney combover.) And Tokio Hotel is a band with a pretty strong cult following that also happens to be on the same label, Cherrytree, as Far*East Movement. Unexpected would be if they got, I dunno, Diamanda Galas or Paul Potts or holographic Pachelbel. This is pop as usual.
Bill’s part is the one you’ll remember, and it serves both its purposes adequately but adequately. It brings in Tokio fans just by existing, and it’s a soaring, pitch-shifted and stutter-twitterpated hook as good as anything anyone else could possibly provide. (As for the content of that hook, “if I die tomorrow” can really only end one way. It’s the way most suitable to a club night. Look, we shouldn’t have to give many more hints here.) If Tokio Hotel breaks through in a major way, it’s entirely plausible this’ll be part of the cause
“If I Die Tomorrow” is a single any singles artist would love to have and easily the best one Far*East Movement has released this year. It’s entirely possible it’ll continue to be the best single they release this year, but hey, why worry about the future? This song wouldn’t want you to.