Beginning its journey swirling through the universe to the sound of a heartbeat and a baby crying, Blue by Macaco is a gentle, thoughtful acoustic delight. That’s the opening impression courtesy of the tasteful accompanying video, anyway…
There’s a level of alienation for this reviewer, as I don’t speak Spanish, but there’s a helpful translation in the video’s description – it just means I focus on the performances, emotion and production choices with tighter intent.
And I can tell you that the chorus is a melodic delight, sung in harmony and with a warmth, confidence and laid-back quality that is as uplifting as anything you’re likely to hear this year. The vocals throughout are measured, and recorded close to the mic for the most part, and treated with little flourishes of production at specific moments to highlight emotion and tension. The instrumentation supporting them is generous, largely featuring naked acoustic guitar parts panned hard left and right – which adds a feeling of organic human authenticity that then gets augmented by a tasteful string arrangement, electric guitar and developing percussion.
The song explains our place in the universe: pauper or emperor, we are all as significant and as insignificant as each other. The metronomic element of the instrumentation is time marching us through our journey on this rock spinning through space… ah, it’s got me waxing lyrical!
Beautifully sung and played, Blue is a grown-up delight of a song. Tackling subject matter like this can often be interpreted as indulgent, worthy or mawkish, but Macaco just gets on with the job of putting up a tremendous piece of songwriting and presenting it in the right kind of way. This is going to connect with people.
Find & follow Macaco on Instagram.
