Sunday, October 5, 2014

"Rather Be" - Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne

Let's take a look at the Billboard charts for a second. Let's see, we've got "All About That Bass"... did it... "Shake it Off"... done... "Habits"... oh hey, that one got popular. Cool. Hmm... "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne. Well, it's in the Top 10, and I'm always one to give new artists a shot, so let's get it on.




Well, this is different.

Actually, a lot of music has been sounding quite "different" this year. I can't really find much of a cohesive path between one hit song and the next. All of pop music seems to be going in a multitude of different directions. The real question, though: does this constitute staying power?

I don't mean solely on the Billboard charts, because those have been in perpetual lulls ever since the beginning of the year. What I'm talking about is whether these songs will survive into next year. Whether people will still remember them. And... I don't know, I'm not seeing a lot of staying power this year at all.

Is there anyone out there still talking about "Rude"? "Maps"? "Wiggle"? All awful songs, but I haven't heard them or heard about them in a long time, unlike the awful songs of 2013 that refused to go away. So... should I be grateful? Well, while the good songs have more staying power this year than the bad, they're slowly fading from memory too. It's like 2014 is just in this coma and we're constantly coming out of it and forgetting what happened. I can think of maybe a few songs this year that really left an impact, but that's it.

But, anyway... what do I make of this song?

As I said, it's got a different sound. I don't know if it's really enough to stand out, but I do like that chorus, where Jess Glynne starts belting a little and the instrumentation picks up. Of course, there are some parts where the instrumentation is a little overbearing... like right after the chorus. Sometimes you just gotta feel the silence, not fill it. Unfortunately, I think it's filled a few too many times, like Clean Bandit just had the mindset of "the more the better". And while it works for the chorus, some of it just seems out of place. I mean, right here's a good example. What's with the random string? What's the purpose? Let the song breathe, don't cram the instruments down our throats.

Overall, I do like this song. It's got its problems, but a lot of them are fixed with Jess Glynne on the vocals, who has great control over her voice. I just wish the rest of the song was a little more grounded. Not to the point where it's boring, but to the point where I can digest the mood of the song. All the instruments given to me at once is just a little too much to take in.

Honestly, I hope this becomes popular. I hope people start talking about it for whatever reason. Because 2014's had a lot of songs that have failed to meet that standard. I think we've got a few songs out now that fit the bill, but we could use a few more to make up for the lackluster year we've been having. And that's not even saying it's been a bad year for music; it's just almost like people have stopped caring. And that saddens me. Because then people will stop caring about my blog. And then where will I be? Please care about music, and please care about my blog. For the good of humanity, or something.

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