Same Difference - Shine On Forever (Photo Frame)

August 30, 2012 Critic Jonni 0 Comments

Same Difference was definitely my favourite act from series four of The X Factor, so of course I was going to review one of their videos for my X Factor Special. Same Difference is a band consisting of siblings: Sarah Smith and Sean Smith. They came third overall, and Simon Cowell put them on his label, but since they didn't chart very high they were soon dropped, and then picked up by PopLife Records. As of now... I'm not sure where they stand, I think they may have been dropped, but I could be wrong. The fourth series of The X Factor gave us a few artists, the following people managed to get a record deal: Leon Jackson (winner), Rhydian Roberts (second), Same Difference (third), Niki Evens (fourth) and Daniel DeBourg (eleventh).

"Shine On Forever (Photo Frame)" was Same Difference's second single, their first on PopLife Records. And I have to admit it is a good first single, but there were clearly better songs on their album "The Rest Is History", which may have charted better. It was written by Sean Smith, Sarah Smith and John Myers. The fact that they have helped write the song has clearly shown how much it means to them. The song charted at an extremely low number 100. The reason was because Same Difference offered the single cheaper if people texted in, in doing so they received a code to then go on to 7digital to get the track. The main problem, however was that people forgot to get the track from 7digital, so therefore people had paid for something they didn't collect, and so it didn't chart very high. But apparently sales suggested it would've charted pretty high if people had downloaded the single.

This music video shows Same Difference all grown up, they decided to change their sound and their appearance as their fans had all grown up as well. This shows them sexy and very different from the childish songs they sung on the album they released under Syco (Simon Cowell's label). It's got a big choreography sequence and also sees them clubbing, suggesting what their new sound is like.

However, Same Difference are great dancers, but no one can make that choreography sequence good, it's quite cringe-worthy and quite worrying, didn't anyone tell the director that dancing in a smart jacket is one of the worst things people do? Sean just looks out of place, the jacket makes it difficult to move in. But this is the only complaint I have about it.

Overall a catchy song that I could listen to over and over again, it's accompanying music video is missing a few things, but as a whole it works well, and shows that they are growing as artists and managing to centre their audience and keep with them. I hope this isn't the last we will see of these guys, as they have yet to find the popularity they clearly deserve.