A brilliant return from Nikotene this year brings the summer-time ready pop-EDM banger that is Fired Up. Fusing skillfully the energy and bounce of dance with the melodies and colour of pop, the track leads with a soulful vocal and a series of intricacies that let it really connect and embrace the listener in a warming way.
The finish on this track is beautiful, the synths and the build-up all pour through brilliantly – and without taking anything away from that central melody and the inspiring, motivational nature of the lyrics. You get the best of both worlds – the subtle ear-worm quality of pop, and the uplifting pace and groove of EDM; with neither side hitting too intensely. It’s accessible, radio-ready, and far from over the top or lacking in meaning. There’s a poetic hopefulness to the lyrics that suits the calming summer vibes of the music really well. Fired Up is a song to escape within, and as always Nikotene work to the best of their abilities to make certain it’s an audio journey well-crafted.
Coming in at just under the three minute mark, the song is over and done with long before it gets a chance to grow tiresome. On the contrary, this particular balance between the sultry softness of the vocals and the lightly weighted drum-line works in unison with the track’s short time-span to make sure you come back and re-visit the whole thing. There’s an addictive delicacy to the way the music rains down around you, the drop is subtle but beautiful – a moment of togetherness that you know would work well during a festival set. This gentle approach and the mellow pace also means there’s plenty of room for remixes – that vocal and that synth riff lingering in the backdrop would be easy to pinpoint; even among the hardest hitting drum and bass backdrop, or something even grittier.
A definite must for the upcoming spring and summer months and another mighty step forward for Nikotene – their music has amassed over 200k streams on Spotify to date, and this is still just the beginning.
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