Posted by Katherine St Asaph on 03/28/2012 at 5:20 PM News

The Popdust Files: ameriie, awesome tracks, heathers

By now it’s almost April, and if you’re music fans like we are, at least one song this year has probably invaded your headphones and changed your life. And if you’re music fans like we are, you’d never limit yourself to just one song. Why not give these two a try?

AMERIIE, “EVERY TIME”

Yes, it’s the same person you’re thinking of: Amerie, whose single “1 Thing” still absolutely kills years later and who changed her name for a reason involving the word “vibes.” She’s up there with Aaliyah, in critical and alphabetical terms alike.

The problem with having one fantastic track is that everything gets compared to it, inevitably. We won’t do that disservice to “Every Time,” a sunny, pounding love song that could rule all the airwaves and people’s summer affairs if it were only given a chance. Amerie (iie?) sings “crazy” as if she’s flinging her arms out to embrace you, and “every time I close my eyes all I see is you” is delivered so much more warmly than that Armageddon song. (We bring it up only to remind you what the baseline is here.)

HEATHERS, “FORGET ME KNOTS”

Heathers is the project of Irish twin sisters Ellie and Louise Macnamara (and yes, they’re named after the movie.) A few years ago, they released a striking debut, Here, Not There. “Margie,” one of its best tracks, is the immensely catchy, superbly harmonized personal anthem everyone deserves to adopt.

“Forget Me Knots” is much poppier than anything on that album (and I’m pretty sure the lyrics-video thing is new, too.) It’s not a complete departure; imagine something like “Margie,” which you have now clicked through and heard, juiced up a bit for radio. The piano’s more to the forefront and the harmonies more toward the back of the mix; the background vocals swoop and the beat thumps with the rest of them. None of this is a bad thing, though, especially not when you’re trying to deliver lyrics like “it’s alright not to feel OK” and “so don’t fall” as mantras. It’ll probably have a fantastic acoustic version, too.