From Estonia to the world! The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues reviewing the songs in Eesti Laul 2017 — perhaps the most highly-anticipated national selection in the Baltics. Next up is the trio of Karl-Kristjan & Whogaux featuring Maian with their song “Have You Now”. Did we want to add this to our Spotify playlist? Read on to find out!
Karl-Kristjan & Whogaux feat. Maian – “Have You Now”
“Have You Now” reviews
Antranig: This song does not sound like it has much production value behind it, which makes it all the more impressive. Their vocals are great and the harmonies are perfect. The instrumentals are a little quirky and very appealing. It doesn’t come across as a very Eurovision song but that doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing. One of the best songs in Estonia.
Score: 8.5/10
Robyn: I’m ok with artists taking inspiration from current chart hits, but not when it’s done this lazily. “Have You Now” sounds like a cynical and formulaic recreation of Chainsmokers’ massive international hit “Closer”. But it misses the details of the original that made it a surprisingly touching and very appealing single. “Have You Now” is just left with the electronic production and two singers who sound bored with the whole experience.
Score: 4/10
William: This is alt electronica that really works. The instrumentation is so unique I can’t identify some of the sounds — but there appears to be a zither, an electro organ, a salt shaker, the rat-tat-tat of a digital drum and some kind of cartoon squeeze box. This has shades of the Postal Service — one of my favourite groups of a decade ago — and yet feels decidedly 2017. The contrasting vocals — she all angelic and soaring, he all brooding and gritty — works well and adds major avant-garde edge. Experimental, other-worldly realness!
Score: 8/10
Chris: Sure, okay, it sounds a bit like “Closer”. The only problem is that Halsey is much better than any of these three combined. The main fault comes with the vocals, particularly with Maian who just doesn’t sound good in this version. The fact I’m struggling with the vocals now makes me worry about the live version. The modern beat does do wonders though.
Score: 6/10
Jason: I really dislike “Closer”, so it is no surprise that “Have You Now” does not do much for me. It feels like a poor imitation of The Chainsmokers mega-hit and at times sounds frantic. The vocals are quite thin and frequently border on annoying. I appreciate the effort but that’s about it I am afraid.
Score: 3/10
Zakaria: Definitely one of the most current and experimental songs of this selection…but it still leaves me cold. The whole piece feels over-performed with the singers trying to sound too cool and sexy. Also, I’m not too sure about how they will sound live as the vocals sound a little weak on the studio version… All in all, I just don’t feel it.
Score: 4/10
Josh: Besides the clear derivative from The Chainsmokers, I actually really love this song. I don’t know how “Eurovision” it is, but if this came on my radio I’d happily sing along to it. It’s current, fresh and their vocals are so great. One of my favourites of Eesti Laul 2017.
Score: 8/10
Patrick: So baby pull me closer… Wait what? Listen peepz, I don’t know what you are thinking but this sounds familiar, I’d say rather very familiar. Surely this type of music is overused and you hear it everywhere at the moment, so it could be that, but this sounds like “Closer” by the Chainsmokers. Nice voices and a good vibe really, but that’s not enough. The beat drop is rather disappointing and sounds like any other cheap song on the radio. Everything else is quite good and the female singer is sweet but that’s not enough for me and not enough for Eurovision.
Score: 5/10
In our Eesti Laul Wiwi Jury, we have 20 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Anthony: 6/10
Bernardo: 7.5/10
Dayana: 8.5/10
Edd: 7.5/10
Forrest: 4/10
Kristin: 7/10
Luis: 5/10
Matt: 6.5/10
Mikhail: 7/10
Natalie: 7.5/10
Sami: 8/10
Steinunn: 7/10
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 8.5.
Although I like this song I definitely can’t see it in Kyiv. It may be the copy of Closer but Closer itself sounds like million other EDM songs. The music is so modern and lyrics are nice. The only thing that makes me not see it on Eurovision stage is the performance. How they want to stage such a song on a stage? I guess the time will show. Overall, great song but not a Eurovision material.
8/10
@Zebb: Ahh. Ahahaha! That’s so funny! It also makes perfect sense, thanks for sharing that. 🙂
I can’t say I don’t like it, but it’s nothing special. It’s interesting, but I am not sure it’ll do well at ESC.
@Purple Mask
I don’t know estonian language but at some filmed interview third member of group was pointing at both singers like if they were lovers. So, probably she’s irreplaceable at this point 😀 I admit also, she not only sings but constantly looks like she was awoken not in right time.
Thanks Eurovision6. 🙂
Musically I really liked the acoustic arrangement better, and the two guys are really good. The young woman though has a “mumble” technical issue when she sings, and it really puts me off the performance. I’m really sorry, but my suggestion would be to either lose the extra singer entirely, or to replace her.
I really like the lyrics of this song though; possibly the only 10/10 for lyrics I have given so far this year! 🙂
I’ve never even listened to Closer but I don’t need to to know that this sounds like a cheap copy of *something* on the radio. And their voices clash horribly with one another, the girl’s voice is extremely grating.
It’s a shame because I feel that a lot EL songs this year yet again have production levels far above most other participating countries, but at the same time can’t escape from being anything other than low-quality, boring, TripleJ cookie cutter radio songs. ^Case in point.
dont know what Closer is, but if this song is a copy of it, why is it not more memorable.
isn´t she 15? she has a really weak vocal. sorry, girl, you would disappear on the ESC stage
This could have done without the female vocalist. Nothing much wrong with the song but nothing to get excited about either.
6.47? What y’all on omg… this is the discount version of Closer and they aren’t even trying to hide it. The girl’s voice is grating af and it’s the textbook definition of cheap trash.
Worst song I’ve heard in my entire life, I ain’t kidding.
I love this song, but at the same time I don’t think this would do well at Eurovision. Songs like this are hard to be put on stage.
Purple Mask
acoustic live performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JEn3y4PeNE
I do not like this. It has interesting instrumentation and that’s all. It’s very boring and doesn’t really go anywhere, there’s no exciting part in it. Their voices are irritating.
3.5/10
I love it! Its my #4 only behind Daniel Levi, Kerli and Angeelia.. Wouldnt mind seeing this at Eurovision, very modern radio friendly entry that could do really well with the right performance!
This really shouldn’t work because the production is low, and the singers sound either bored or drugged. However, there’s something niche and magical about the way it all fits together, which I can’t explain. One concern is that I haven’t heard a live performance of this yet, which is what will make or break this. Best of luck.