Sweden Sounds So Good Right Now
Admittedly, there aren't too many Swedish R&B superstars, but Snoh Aalegra is absolutely one of them. Truly a Sade disciple, Aalegra's music has always demonstrated a combination of incredible style and vocal ability, but with her latest single 'Lost You' it looks as though this musician is entirely prepared for another leap forward in artistic evolution.
Following on from 2019's fantastic - Ugh, those feels again, as we collectively prepare for the release of Aalegra's newest record Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies on July 7th, 'Lost You' should serve as a real indication of just what this artist has in store. Sparse, minimalistic and alluring, this is a composite of everything R&B's peak represented. Above a restrained bassline and atmospheric pad swells, Aalegra has an aura. Your attention is reeled towards the perfect delivery of every line that passes through the single's tight 3 minute duration.
Hearing musings and romantic contemplations of
"I won't hold the past against you
When you hold me I forget to..."
convey an unbelievably immediate connection. It's something that most songwriters can't do. That ability to tether the listener to a particular moment; a sensation of longing, or hopelessness unique to the individual, but infinitely lucid to all that hear it. As the taps of computerised hi-hat approximations subtly underpin the harmonies of 'Lost You's chorus, the smallest change in dynamics and scale catapults the whole song into a new dimension.
It should go without saying that Snoh Aalegra is one of the best singers on the planet. Between flawless control, butter-smooth delivery and a tone that sounds cryogenically frozen circa 1993, 'Lost You' is just a continuation of musical irresistibility. Whatever might be happening beyond your sphere of speakers and headphones, Aalegra aligns her world with yours. So inherently empathisable is her music, that you have no choice but to allow her anguishes and satisfactions to become your own.
But then, just as quickly as it put its cards on the table, 'Lost You' ends. It leaves with more to say, but choosing not to. Like the lost relationship it laments, the song finishes itself before we were ever really ready. It hurts, but immediately we return, starting over again and again - refreshing the pain of a lost love in the comforting embrace of Aalegra's beautiful memories ad infinitum.
- great -
Thanks for reading! Slow Motion Panic Masters is a music, arts and culture website created and edited by Ben Wheadon, a literature student at the University of Oxford. He is also a Fleet Foxes shill.
Opmerkingen