Earlier this month, veteran boybanders Westlife made their return to British pop music with a brand new single.Okay, calling a Westlife single "brand new" is kind of a joke, since a good portion of their catalog are covers. The cover they released this time? "What About Now", a song from American Idol favorite Chris Daughtry (just in case you are confused, Simon Cowell works with Westlife, and he works with Daughtry here in the States. Hence, the choice of single).
Maybe they (and by they, I mean Cowell) are afraid of taking a risk with an original song, but continuing to release covers is not a good look at all. It's especially when you have some solid original songs on the album, such as "Shadows".
"Shadows" is a ballad written by Top 40's favorite recycling factory Ryan Tedder and Backstreet Boy AJ McLean, meant for their comeback album. Instead, it was given to Westlife, probably hoping for "Bleeding Love"-esque success. While it isn't as definitive as Leona's smash, "Shadows" is a particularly lush pop tearjerker, with some stunning lead vocals coming from Shane and Mark. While I could easily deconstruct the song and link it to the Tedder standards such as "Halo" or the aforementioned, the boys inject it with more than enough personality to help stand on its own merits. And considering that, despite his penchant for reusing song elements, Tedder is quite the genius pop songwriter/producer, this song is definitely one of Westlife's best ever.
RATING: 8.5 OUT OF 10
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