Written by Marilù Ciabattoni
Discovered via Musosoup
Katie Drives’s sweet voice nicely balances the aggressive instrumentals of her latest pop-rock banger “Next To You.”
The lyrics express the artist’s envy for another girl, next to whom she “flares out” because of her incomparable perfection. It’s an interesting theme considering that most songs nowadays are either about love or everything that evolves around love. But the insecurity that one girl might feel next to another is still, for the most part, unexplored.
Starting with guitar and bass, the percussions soon make their way into the song together with the rest of the instrumentals. However, we’re only getting a taste of how hard Katie can get until we get to the chorus, where the rock soul of the song fully comes out. The second verse and chorus develop exactly like the first part of the song.
The bridge shows a more pessimistic view of the artist’s sense of self: “Attention-seeking loser / And I know it’s not really true but / I can’t stop feeling how I feel / I’m a loser,” she sings, catching her breath before the final chorus.
Because of the intimate nature of the lyrics, the lines don’t really rhyme all the time, but thanks to Katie’s interpretation, it doesn’t sound bad at all. Though rhymes help with musicality, here it doesn’t undermine the track overall.
Finally, there is a lusty feel to the song (“God sent an angel/ The boys want her taste”) which goes well with the element of fire that appears throughout the song: Katie sings bits like “And I adore her / But her flame / Makes mine dim away” or “But both of us burning strong.” This girl is the light, while the artist feels “dark.” “Next To You” is a song built on contrasts that I hope to see in Katie’s upcoming music as well.
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