Fabulous? Absolutely not.
Sometimes it's best not to read a press release before you get the opportunity to listen to a CD as it can often lead to great disappointment. With references being made to Blackstrobe and Felix Da Housecat, not the most common of names that pop up on influences and fans on press releases, it was hoped that 'Fabulous' by Melnyk would be a sleazy electro stomper worthy of sharing the names of these acts.
And musically, the track kicks off okay and hopes, whilst not being flamed are certainly not dampened, at least that is until the vocals kick in. The intro does lean a bit on the pop and r 'n' b side but there is a squelchy feel and moving rhythm but when the singing starts, the track nosedives. A rather insipid and limp voice intones over the top, manages to whine and moan and drags the track down into chart-like dance monotony as opposed to the floor-filling smash that it aspires to be.
The remixes step it up a bit, particularly the Punk Soundcheck Mix but ironically, it only really excels when it forges its own path. The sections where it fits in the original track are as unimaginative as the original, which is a reminder that remixers can only do so much with a product.
Who knows, perhaps in a week or two the vocals will have nagged into my brain and there will be a realisation that the track does work very well (it certainly wouldn't be the first time a dance track took a while to embed itself) but as for now, there's just nothing much about this track to appeal to anyone. It's too commercial and bland for people who would be genuine fans of Ivan Smagghe and yet too uncomformist for those who favoure their chart-friendly dance.