The Big Five: The following tracks are a selection of those submitted through Musosoup that deserve your close attention!
By Marilù Ciabattoni
Discovered via Musosoup
AMIRA - Medusa
Release Date: 25/03/22
Location: Los Angeles, United States
With hypnotic harmonies and a super catchy beat, AMIRA embodies the energy of the Greek mythological character in her latest single “Medusa”. With layered vocals on the chorus, she sings “I’m Medusa / Might seduce ya / Better watch your back / Cause you ain’t coming back”. This perfect balance of sensual yet aggressive lyrics, matched with her perfect delivery, contributes to a great experience for the listener. It gets even better when, in the second verse, she starts making references to pop culture icons and products: “Babe I’m not like the rest / This De Vil wears a dress”, a clear reference to the movie The Devil Wears Prada and the Disney character Cruella de Vil, both centered on the fashion world. In the following line, Amira sings “You’re She Wolf’s little red” which recalls the popular children’s tale of Little Red Riding Hood and Shakira’s hit “She Wolf”. These homages strengthen the identity of the song and its themes: seduction, intimidation, and dominance.
Carpe Diem - Dream Big, Little Girl
Release Date: 19/04/22
Location: Hong Kong, Hong Kong
A pretty self-explanatory title, the song’s arrangement and production aren’t at all cliched, however. For starters, though the arrangement of the song isn’t anything we hadn’t heard before, it’s the fragility of the lead singer’s melodies and her little vocalist’s that offers a delicious contrast to the band’s sustained rhythm. Going over the lyrics, I guess they’re supposed to be read as a lullaby to be sung to a babygirl before bedtime: “Every girl dreams of fairy tales / Wishing at least one that will come true”. However, there’s a realistic element that cannot be ignored: lines like “you were born to be a legend” and “life is but a dream” strongly contrast with dreamy images like rowing a boat down a stream or growing fairy wings. Overall, the song is a pleasurable ride for both children and adults to enjoy.
Andrey Kunin - Roses ardentes
Release Date: 27/04/22
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Between ethereal and divine, Kyiv-based Andrey Kunin’s “Roses ardentes”, featuring ummsbiaus, starts as a surreal back-and-forth between two voices–a “she” and a “he”, both singing in French (as hinted by the title of the track). But you don’t need to be fluent in French to be enchanted by their sublime singing: it’s more about what they convey to the ear. Towards the middle-end, when the track experiences this tempo drop, the voices almost resemble the melodies of classical, sacred music pieces, such as “Cantate ‘Cessate, omai cessate’” and “Nisi Dominus - Cum Dederit” by Antonio Vivaldi. In particular, the female voice sounds like the soprano of a church choir, which adds to the mysteriousness of the other elements–the softer masculine voice, the slow beat and the overlaying of melodies and sound effects one over the other. Considering everything that is happening in Ukraine as I write, could this be a prayer for the Ukrainian people and their loved ones who emigrated all around the world before and during the crisis? It could very well be, but I don’t want to force this interpretation. I’d rather leave Andrey’s insane production to convey anything and everything at the
Latifa - City Love
Release Date: 15/04/22
Location: London, United Kingdom
In a nutshell, Latifa’s latest single “City Love” expresses the artist’s disappointment for a boy that ghosted her, but such disappointment is disguised as a desire to live in a small town “where everybody knows your name”. However, before critiquing the lyrics, let’s talk about the music for a second. A very general pop tune, Latifa’s vocals and other effects layered on her voice certainly contribute to spice things up. After a subtle verse that kick-starts the song, the bridge starting with ”But you don’t know me / And I don’t know you” builds up the tension that will explode in the chorus, where more sound effects come in. Now, let’s finally talk about the lyrics, shall we? Honestly, I really like how Latifa is using storytelling in this track: she starts by singing about her desire to live in a small town, which contrasts to the title “City Love”. She then proceeds to illustrate why as she simultaneously trashes Tinder and other dating apps (“Swipe left swipe right every single night”). But the big twist comes at the end of the chorus, when she exposes her unfaithful lover: “You got a girlfriend but you acting sly”. She believes that this is the classical “love story” in the city, which is nothing like what we see in movies. It is a subtly funny track and also very easy to dance to, which makes for a great banger.
FHUR - Yearn
Release Date: 22/04/22
Location: London, United Kingdom
The latest single of dark pop artist FHUR starts intimately yet presents some hammer-like beats that scan the tempo in the opening lines: “Tell me that you need me / And that without you I’m nothing”. Then her voice gets doubled and even tripled in the bridge leading to the chorus, which isn’t really a climax: her vocals are whispered–almost hushed–and very breathy, which certainly matches the artist’s mysterious image. A brief interlude leads to the second verse, which has that same punch as the first one but it’s possibly more powerful: the artist’s voice is angry and she adds intensity to it as the beat continues hammering the instrumental. This time, there is a climax leading to the chorus, which matches the energy of the previous verse, followed by a post-chorus bridge that features some very vivid imagery: “You can smoke me like a cigarette / But every tine still I will come back”. Interestingly, instead of continuing on this path and building even more intensity, the song finishes as it starts, with the artist singing softly: it’s the quiet after the storm–the times of wrath have passed and we’re back into the darkness of the night.
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