The Do - On My Shoulder Single Review

Review of The Do's single On My Shoulder.

Naming your band after the first and last notes on the musical scale ('Do Re Mi..') may be a novel approach to putting yourselves on the map, and quite a shrewd one too when it comes to ensuring you're at the forefront of any elongated artist lists, but when it comes to the actual sound that resonates from The Do's fairly distinctive palette, the reference points do become more obvious with every subsequent listen.

Although based in Paris, singer Olivia Merilahti is of Scandinavian origin, albeit from the slightly less celebrated backwater of Finland, so it comes as no real surprise that her wistful, moody tone isn't exactly a million miles away from Nina Persson's earliest musical vocation during The Cardigans more melancholy, lounge-band beginnings. What makes 'On My Shoulder' quite plausible in its own right however is the way Merilahti emphasises each lyric like she's making her last plea to the judiciary, sentence awaiting, rather than a heartfelt moan to a partner who seemingly takes her for granted.

Of course there'll be some that will question The Do's authenticity; they're all over Parisian radio and television stations at the moment, which raises the argument as to whether they're actually any good or just fortunate to have a solid marketing team behind them. On the evidence of this, we're gonna plump for the former; UK connoisseurs of the airwaves, you have been warned.

7/10

Dom Gourlay