X Factor winner Matt Cardle is poised to top the Christmas charts this week with his winner's single, "When We Collide". The Biffy Clyro cover (the original title was "Many of Horror") is expected to return the series to its status of "Christmas number one usurper", which it lost last year when Joe McElderry failed to reach the top of the festive chart with "The Climb".So, is this song a #1 hit because of the show, or because it is a deserving smash.
As someone whose first viewing of Matt Cardle on X Factor was his wobbly duet with Rihanna in the final, I was frankly surprised he won the series (I really haven't been watching). Still, I found his winner's single, which was a retitled cover of an alt-rock Scottish band's hit. Than in itself was surprising, considering Simon Cowell usually chooses fluffy pop productions for his winners (see Leona, Joe, Leon, and Shayne).
"When We Collide" does get that glossy X Factor production value; I can't imagine an indie band having a song so overwrought, and with a key change. The lyrics, which border on the obsessive, just don't fit the over-scaled orchestration that was obviously thrown in. The dramatic production is only meant to highlight the reason why we buy his single: the voice. Luckily for the show, Matt Cardle redeems himself from his shoddy vocals with Rihanna on this song. He really does have a great voice. He has a spectacular lower register, which he showcases very well in the verses. He also can also hit those big power notes so crucial to being an X Factor winner, like the last note of the song. Matt definitely has a voice ready for radio.
"When We Collide" is definitely a winner's single, fitting the formula pretty well. Yet, there is something more to this song that stops its descent to the Recycle Bin of your computer a month in. That makes it the best X Factor coronation single released so far. Congrats to Matt on the inevitable X-mas #1.
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