Having first hit the indie scene with impact during the 2022 release of his album 2am in Melbourne, Australian artist Ike Major has gone from strength to strength, consistently expanding his audience reach, and forever making tracks that carefully and cleverly blend familiar and boldly distinct traits, throughout evocative soundscapes and songwriting.
This summer, Ike Major collaborated with singer Breana Marin, to deliver one of his most immersive and genre-fusing singles yet.
Built around a subtly rising dance groove, with a hint of something like afrobeat to the rhythm and instrumental choices, F.W.M proves instantly captivating for both its atmospheric evolution and the unfiltered vulnerability of Ike’s lyrics.
At its core, F.W.M is a late night romantic outpouring, but the opening lyric ‘I’m a little nervous’ draws focus to a certain refreshing humanity, and this is key to much of the Ike Major catalogue. His voice is also accessible but distinct, unmistakable even, in its softness and character.
Then there’s the dynamic created by the two singers, this RnB-style melody leaning back and forth between two different voices – an intimate dance that aptly represents the subject matter of F.W.M as it grows more impassioned and hypnotic.
Ultimately blending hip hop and RnB within a sweeping arrangement of synths, keys and modest rhythms, F.W.M is beautifully passionate, and close to euphoric as it builds, but there’s never a heavy drop – the song redirects us every time, towards something more mysterious, and again beautifully in tune with the excitement and uncertainty of the topic.
Unafraid to really go there both lyrically and stylistically, Ike Major has captured a genuine moment with F.W.M, and the calm delivery from both artists presents as something like the xx in its intrigue and realness, whispering these ideas amidst an intoxicating dance backdrop, almost as if the song was never meant to be heard by a stranger – only quietly passed along to a significant other, or the object of one’s infatuation.
Find Ike Major on Instagram.
