ESC Etc.

Country: Poland
Artist: Luna
Title: The Tower
Songwriter(s): Aleksandra Katarzyna Wielgomas, Maxwell Cooke, Paul Dixon
Tempo: 156 BPM Mode: Major Key: F Duration: 3:00

After last year’s shitshow of a national final, where incomprehensible jury voting led to the overwhelming televote favorite to flop and to rumors of bribing, fixing, and other shenanings, Poland had the presence of mind to just say, let’s take a step back and regroup and maybe hold an internal selection. You gotta love the cosmic irony of a completely different process yielding the same exact result – Luna ended up prevailing by one point over Justyna Steczkowska, who had already represented Poland at ESC in 1995 and was the overwhelming fandom pick with Witch-er Tarohoro, a fascinating, ethnic bop that sounds like a witchy incantation with a bouncy, Latin American-inflected beat (I do really like it, and I would have loved it if it was in Polish), and social media is once again ablaze with the same sort of accusations from a bunch of disgruntled fans.

Which is silly, because The Tower is actually really quite good. It is completely different from Justyna’s offering, meaning that people who loved the latter’s soundscape might have a hard time connecting to this one, but it’s also an incredibly radio-friendly nugget of dance pop that reminds me a lot of Owl City (not to imply that it sounds dated – it doesn’t) in terms of vibes and production. There are layers to the arrangement that get slowly introduced verse after verse, elevating the last minute and giving the track an eventful feel – you end up looking forward to that last chorus every time you’re listening to this. What really sold this to me, however, are the lyrics. Taken at face value, this is a self-empowerment little anthem about taking stock of your life and finding the power to undo your own mistakes. Cute. Then I started reading in between the lines a bit, and…sorry, but this is a walk of shame song. You will not be talking me out of this. This is the stream of consciousness we’ve all had walking home after that random hookup, tired, depressed, a bit disheveled, and questioning our life choices after that temporary high. Luna is asking for the sun to show her the way back home, walking alone, feeling like a clown (“Could it be that I’m the fool? But aren’t we all?”), thinking about all the “broken bodies scattered through my history/lonely hours leading to my destiny”) and why it’s so effin’ hard to trust people and let them in (“I’m the one who built the tower”). But from that exact realization comes the hopeful message of the song, a kind of new self-awareness (“I’m the one who holds the power/come on rise up and shout it louder”) that if we’re strong enough to erect these walls, we also have the strength to tear them down. And that, I love.

Jury Potential: This is the type of stuff juries tend to go for – polished, current, well-produced pop. The track does lack a vocal moment (and really, the opportunity for one) but in a year full of bombastic acts, some juries will recognize this as the type of music they usually listen to on the radio.
Televote Potential: It’s a catchy, easy to like, unproblematic song. The staging will need to really make a statement against more high-profile acts, but the aesthetic of the video clip suggests there is a vision here. I’m really curious to see how it translates to the stage.