Brandon Riley fearlessly blends genres and keeps things refreshingly creative throughout this captivating new single.
Leading with a reverb-kissed and breathy vocal hook, layers of synth and plenty of space, Marco Polo initially connects for its lyrical intrigue. This quality continues throughout, Riley managing to hold attention with his unique scene-setting and framing of ideas, but it’s also soon accompanied by an arrangement, vocal tone and overall production style, that further the uninhibited artistry of the whole thing.
Coming in at a pretty perfect and pop-ready three minutes eighteen, the song takes no time at all to draw you in, and yet ultimately feels much more impactful than its timeframe should allow. By the final quarter, the hook and the personal emotion in this idea of wishing it ‘didn’t stress me out’ has resounded enough times to prove catchy and quite addictive. Elsewhere though, the song has left plenty of questions unanswered – less memorable melodies, more complex lyrics – and all of this works in favour of prompting you to quickly replay the song.
Clever writing, a breath of fresh air in terms of creativity, and still passionate and professional enough to keep you coming back for more. I look forward to hearing where else the music takes Brandon Riley.
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