Review Friday: Danny L. Harle - "Super Natural (feat. Carly Rae Jepsen)"

Danny L. Harle

"Super Natural (feat. Carly Rae Jepsen)" 

Single

PC Music

The hipster's general consensus for Carly Rae Jepsen may be confusing and polarizing: "Is it cool to like Carly Rae Jepsen now that she's criminally underrated? Should we just bandwagon?" They may make fair point: the transformation of Carly Rae Jepsen from the soft-pedaled bubblegum pop princess of "Call Me Maybe" to queen of Pitchfork Music Festival is truly an interesting case study. In just one masterpiece album, Emotion, a true homage of 80's pop songs, Jepsen can turn the table. Before she releases the side B of Emotion, Jepsen teases her collaboration with British music producer, Danny L. Harle. "Super Natural."

The true star of "Super Natural" is of course Harle, one of PC Music's producers, the member of Dux Alliance with A. G. Cook. It's already a recipe of amazingness. Long fan of Jepsen, when Harle asks Jepsen to fill the vocal for "Super Natural", it's a dream comes true, and "Super Natural" lengthens the streak of Jepsen's superb songs. 

It's no surprise when you listen to Harle's sick beat, it reminds you of A. G. Cook's work, with its twinkling beat and multilayered 80's synth. Jepsen is the perfect choice to fill the vocal, as her voice twirls between Harle's irresistible beat (and quirky charming smile). "Super Natural" describes an effortlessly matching couple, that's perfectly meant for each other, and in some other ways, it's exactly what's this collaboration is. 

Review Friday: Nothing - "Nineteen Ninety Heaven"

Nothing

"Nineteen Ninety Heaven"

Tired of Tomorrow

Reprise

When Philadelphian shoegaze band, Nothing, released their first album (Guilty of Everything) in 2014, they use more grunge-y and hardcore approach, the manifestation of frontman Dominic Palermo's regret when he was jailed for stabbing someone at show. So, when they skid in their sophomore album, Tired of Tomorrow, changing their musical artistry direction from hardcore to something that sounds gentler, the result is gorgeous. And "Nineteen Ninety Heaven" as the most gorgeous thing in Tired of Tomorrow is the finest example of song about the depression that infects people. 

A placid and slow drumbeat starts the song to represent the silence of forlornness. With a simple and brief lyrics, "See you/ crying/ softly/ so cautiously", Palermo describes the ultimate sadness of a significant other who cries softly that it hurts. The guitar riff that adorns the song is faintly heard throughout the song, strengthening the depressive atmosphere of the song. "Then you/ glide off/ so gently/ baby," Palermo continues, picturesquely describing a sad separation. In the climax of the song, after his lover has gone, the world turns dark and "life's nightmare". There's no resolution of the song, and the whole nuance of the song is bleak, but it realistically portrays the lowest point of human's life; the fact that depression may sometimes be unsolvable. 

Review Friday: James Blake - "I Need A Forest Fire (feat. Bon Iver)"

James Blake

"I Need A Forest Fire (feat. Bon Iver)"

The Colour in Anything

Polydor

"I Need A Forest Fire" combines two things we miss the most in this world: James Blake's narcotic musical virtuosity and Bon Iver's versatility. Taken from Blake's third album, The Colour in Anything, "I Need A Forest Fire" explores vulnerability of a human being. It starts with a droning sound until a distant call saying "another shade/another shadow" can be heard throughout the song. Vernon's voice, still as haunting and mesmerizing as ever, soars above the call. "To burn it like cedar/ I request another dream/ I need a forest fire". Blake's distinctive voice follows as he sings, I'm saved by nature/ But it always forgets what I need/ I hope you'll stop me before I'll build a world around me". The structure of the song is recurring until the climax where Blake and Vernon's melodiously speaks together in the final chorus, the quintessence of the gloominess and somber of the song, despite the fire title. 

Review Friday: White Lung - "Below"

White Lung

"Below"

Paradise

Domino

When a punk rock band such as White Lung decides to make a ballad for glamorous women, do not expect it to be something Adele-esque. It is not. But still, White Lung's "Below", the third taste (after "Hungry" and "Kiss Me When I Bleed") of this Canadian band's third album, Paradise, is something that is surprisingly digestible easily, lighter than their previous materials. In "Below", White Lung tones their fieriness down, but still maintains their viciousness, as noted in the William's chorus guitar that begins the song, layering droned sounds on top. Something that they've never done before, William admits. 

But, that's not the only thing that makes "Below" an exhilarating song. "Part the tide", Mish Way sings as if she were Moses. It's also the starting point of an epic journey, just like when Moses parted the Red Sea--the mark of Israel's journey to Canaan. Inspired by Camille Paglia's interview, "Below" is about the transience of a beauty, an ephemera that we value. "They'll bury your beauty/ transient living stone," Way soars. "I want to take it all down/ burn in the waste you have found/ I want to throw it around/ Back where the sea meets the ground". The chorus is not the climax--every part of the song is all climax, an epitome of White Lung's awesomeness and broadness in exploring genre. When they go "pop", they go all out. 

Review Friday: Highasakite - "Golden Ticket"

Highasakite

"Golden Ticket"

Camp Echo

Propeller Records

Charlie Bucket rom Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can be deemed as an allegory of escapism from reality, where a young boy who got a golden ticket got to visit a surreal chocolate factory and he found this whole experience different. Even if Highasakite's "Golden Ticket" is not inspired by Dahl's fascinating tale--it's inspired by Gunvor Hofmo's post World War II poem, Dat er ingen hverdag mer--the song pretty much shares the same spirit. 

"Golden Ticket" is a follow-up from their lead track of Camp Echo, "Someone Who'll Get It". In "Someone Who'll Get It", this five-piece Norway pop band shows their sinister side, embracing their dark side. On the other hand, "Golden Ticket" polarly exhibits their poppy side, a same approach they use in 2014's Silent Treatment. Håvik starts the song with, "God, if you're still watching", a conceit of Hofmo's poem, There's no more every day if translated. Singing between their heavily-synthed beat, Håvik says about the escapism, using a metaphor of golden ticket, "I got a golden ticket/ I'm out", not giving a crap about anything. Highasakite underlines the contradiction between the song's overall composition and the message that they try to spread, making "Golden Ticket" a mesmerizing experience. 

Review Friday: dvsn - "Do It Well"

dvsn

"Do It Well"

Sept 5th

OVO Sound

The wait is over. We finally know the genius mind behind dvsn, a mysterious R&B group, first appeared in last October, that made people go insane. Paul Jefferies, known by his stage name Nineteen85, a Canadian producer behind Drake's finest hits, such as: "Hold On, We're Going Home" and "Hotline Bling", teams up with Daniel Daley, confirming viral speculation that Daley is the vocalist of dvsn. 

Now that the enigma has finally been resolved, dvsn is now ready to take over the R&B world with their debut, Sept 5th, that's released on March 27th. Their previous singles that have been released on their SoundCloud account, "The Line", "Too Deep", "With Me", and "Hallucinations", are included in their debut album, and they add six more songs, making Sept 5th filled with ten amazing R&B songs, but "Do It Well" comes out as my favorite. 

What I like from R&B songs is that they can turn lasciviousness into something beautiful, like what Miguel did last year in "Coffee". Indeed, sexual desire is something natural, but good artists will concoct this naturalness into something arty, without sounding corny and salacious. dvsn's "Do It Well" is another example, where it's basically a song about--well--stripper. Jefferies-produced thumping drum that starts the song sounds like a heartbeat as if it marked the birth of something. Daley's whispery voice begins the song, "You're the only one I can talk to/And I ain't gotta talk to you". "Do It Well"'s downtempo showcases Daley's voice as he unravels more about the stripper, celebrating her bodies, "I'm feeling fucked up, still love fucking/I ain't throwing money in the air for nothing", before he finally admits that the stripper is "the only therapy I know". 

Review Friday: Glass Animals - "Lose Control (feat. Joey Bada$$)"

Glass Animals

Lose Control (feat. Joey Bada$$)

Single

Caroline Records

Last year's Zaba by Glass Animals catches my attention. This British band provides something different than what I've usually heard. They are imbuing various ethnic sounds on their music; they sound so eclectic. So, when Glass Animals teams up with Brooklyn rapper, Joey Bada$$, only one word can describe this collaboration: dope. 

Glass Animals still keeps their ethnic percussion at the start of the song, but once Joey Bada$$ starts rapping, you begin to question whether this is the Glass Animals you usually hear or not. In fact, "Lose Control" is so badass that Joey Bada$$ starts singing, "Nobody move, nobody get hurt." It's like a threat: Glass Animals and Joey Bada$$'s collaboration is "'bout to go insane" and is "'bout to make people lose their brain". 

But, when Dave Bayley's laid-back vocal begins to fill your ear, you suddenly feel some kind of familiarity. That is Glass Animals you usually hear. Glass Animals you usually hear is still there. They don't go anywhere. They lose control, but they still maintain their roots. And that's what makes this song so special.