This piece starts off with an aural assault from an instrument of indistinguishable origin: part synth, part guitar, part… could that be bagpipes? Surely not, but I bet that’s got you checking it out!
After that attention-grabbing start, we morph, via a sweep of white noise and sub bass, into a see-sawing, woozy delight of a tune that’s been lushly-produced and provides a wonderful backdrop for Jillian Ferrara’s measured vocal.
When that vocal opens up, her tone is reminiscent of Keisza or (bizarrely) a young Kim Wilde. But when delivering the breathy verses, she sounds every bit her own vocalist.
A relentless sub-bass rumbles and drives right through the heart of this song, insistently underpinning the satisfying chord changes that refuse to be ignored. It’s clearly been loved, this arrangement, with smart drum programming that uses the full stereo spread, and there’s buzz and warmth and bubbly synths at the edges, too. The song feels like it’s breathing; like the whole thing is an intellectual exercise in side-chaining. But with heart.
And so we are granted a rich listening experience that flies in the face of the smart, knowing lyric that deals with concepts of addiction, and is built up with a clever backing vocal arrangement which all drives to a satisfying broken-down outro.
The vocal implores the listener to ‘gimme everything you got’. Based on the passion and commitment demonstrated here, I’m tempted to, and long before the end.
Find & follow Jillian Ferrara on Instagram.
