1996 Boyzone: A Different Beat

With the boy band world dominated by slick dance tracks or power ballads (both of which are mostly cover versions to boot), it's refreshing that this latest Boyzone single does at least try to live up to the promise of its title. 'A Different Beat's stall is a vague 'one world so why can't we all just get along' statement dressed in flashes and flourishes of a 'my first world music single' primer complete with ethic drums and "Eeyeah--oh, eayeh" chanting for added authenticity. Only it's not that authentic; you won't find any polyrhythms, ragas, talas or Afrobeats here - 'A Different Beat' ply's its trade around a standard Western scale given a vague African spin that throws in the disparate and exotic ("I've seen the rain, fall in Africa, I've touched the snow of Alaska") to plug the gaps the borrowings from the music library doesn't fill. A brave stab, yet for all its efforts it never breaks free of the simple white man's cultural tourism that it is; 'A Different Beat' has all the well meaning yet tacky charm of a Blue Peter bring and buy sale, but it would be churlish not to give it credit for at least trying to be different. That's more than most manage after all.