Now Playing: John Cale – ‘I Wanna Talk 2 U’

John Cale - I Wanna Talk 2 U

Now Playing – every week, a roundtable of our writers will give their views on one of the recently-released new tracks. It’s as simple as that! If you want to tell us what you think of the song, feel free to leave a comment below.

Track: ‘I Wanna Talk 2 U’ by John Cale

Average grade: 6.5

Tom: Improbable though it is, John Cale is still making good records, and this is belligerent and entertaining.  Cale’s John Barry-esque band sounds smooth, but his vocals are rough and insistent.  He wants to talk to you, and you’d be advised to pay attention.  I could do without the ’90s text speak in the title though. 8/10 

Kenny: Simple sort of thing we’ve all heard numerous times before – verse, chorus, verse etc., woozy production near the end and a pretty funky guitar part all the way through but nothing setting the heather on fire. You kind of wish that whomever’s being asked to wake up would hurry the hell up and do so to put JC out of his misery and allow him his conversation. 5/10

Richard: This is better than anything Lou Reed has done in the last decade, so if anything it proves that there is still life in at least one of the Velvets. The production is very much a throwback to the sixties psychedelic sound, however there is a freshness here that goes beyond revisiting the archives. Good jam from the old man. 7/10

Linda: Any single that bears a relation as direct as this one to the Velvet Underground deserves our full attention. It sure is a very catchy tune, but whether it signifies the amount of time that has passed since John Cale first came to the scene is a different issue. Perhaps I’m being a bit picky (and who could blame after seeing a perfect Blur gig and Hercules & Love Affair with Antony in the same week?), but apart from the title, it could have been released in any decade.  6.8/10

Craig: It deeply worries me that John Cale, the man who wrote a song as eloquent and poetic as ‘Paris 1919′ would title a song ‘I Wanna Talk 2 U.’  Is it his age?  Is he trying to seem relevant in this, our txtspk era?  Either way, the song doesn’t come across with any more passion than Cale’s gruff voice can express.  The only aspects that separate this track from being another of the deluge of smarmy singer song-writer-with-a-guitar songs is the disco beat & synths which do nothing to elevate the song but rather snooze in the background. 3/10

Anna: Really enjoyed this — it feels fresh and seedy at the same time, with the added bonus of Mr. Cale’s beautiful voice and Danger Mouse’s spot-on production. Yes, please, I’ll have the album. 7.5/10

Stef: It must be annoying for singers that some people, even if they more speak than actually hit notes, just have a certain gravitas in their voice which gives the delivery (any delivery) automatic poignancy. You just get this instant feel he is talking about grave matters. Lovely mixture of singer-songwriter elements and more electro characteristics. What would’ve elevated this song to magnificence is if that rocky guitar thing would’ve obliterated the song near the end, instead of staying in the background throughout. 8/10