Review: Silk Sonic - Skate
Silk Sonic is a special super duo with American megastars, Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak. Their debut, Leave the Door Open, received a favorable review from me, and it really was quite fun, blending old-school 70s R&B with just enough modern technology to make it fun, even if the central melody and lyrics did me wanting a bit more. Now, with the second single from their upcoming album, An Evening With Silk Sonic released, it is time to look once again at how they are doing musically.
In many ways, Skate is an expansion of what made Leave the Door Open what it was, both good and bad. For one thing, the lyrics are downright terrible at times, lines like "Smell better than a barbeque, oh superstar is what you are" don't really make me do much other than roll my eyes. While that is a particularly bad example, the rest of Skate is filled with uncomfortable or strange metaphors or forced rhymes. Clearly, the lyrical department is one thing I do really hope Silk Sonic fix for the album, maybe the 6 lyricists canceled each other out?
On the other hand, Skate improves the momentum usage from Leave the Door Open, never really fractioning its speed. That said, the slow down really captured a sense of storytelling and charm in Leave the Door Open, which is somewhat lacking in Skate.
Indeed, Skate takes the basic conceptual links from Leave the Door Open and creates a more commercial and accessible single. The beat is light is funky and catchy, and is really hard to hate, even if unambitious. The strings and productional flourishes are nice too.
However, the real instrumental powerhouse of Skate is its strong percussion. The drums play a stronger role than they did in Leave the Door Open, for great effect at that. Indeed, they capture the song's intended breezy feel, while providing room for Bruno's always infectious vocals.
However, Skate lies as unambitious. Indeed, it is a good song without doing much wrong, but I doubt it will have the incredible longevity of Leave the Door Open, which has only gotten better with time. Still, it is worth at least one fun listen.
This song is nice, but as you said it is unambitious. I agree with that, I think it could do a little more creative work with the direction. I think it is kind of repressing itself of exploding into that super pop territory. I mean it is not really something interesting, but it tries. Props to Bruno and Anderson for this.
ReplyDeleteI will just sit in a special seat here.
Yeah, unambitious perfectly describes the song. Well, I still am looking forward to the album, hopefully it is more like Leave the Door Open than this!
DeleteSmell better than a what now!?
ReplyDeleteMy exact initial reaction to the line, just in all-caps for me lol.
Delete"You smell better than a barbeque"
ReplyDeleteThis has got to be the most flattering and funniest insult I've ever been been called from a song. I guess it's unique than handsome men singing sweet nothings like "you're so beautiful, girl" and "I want you babe"
In all seriousness, I quite like the beat here! It's simplistic, sure, but you're so right, the percussion here is this song's strongest asset. And I love the harmonisation the guys sprinkled across the song. They're short-lived, but I'll take it!
On a bit of an unrelated note, it's amazing how you do reviews on so many different languages the song is in. Seriously, big props to you for exposing yourself to so many different artists. I don't keep up with English artists apart from one or two that I really like these days so you doing reviews not only expands my music catalogue but also as a personal encouragement to be more appreciative of songs varied in languages.
Love reading your reviews. Can't wait to see your next review whenever you're ready :)
I have been using that line as an insult since I first heard the song, leaving everyone perplexed, something I love lol. But yeah, it certainly is... unique.
DeleteThat simplicity is really the best thing in the song!
Thank you so much Haruko! It does take quite a bit of time to follow so many artists (hence why my reviews can be months after the songs release at times), but it is so worth it, because I love it when I introduce people to new music!
The thought of people's reaction to you alluding to Bruno's line sounds hilarious to me. I will be surprised if anyone you said the line to gets the reference. It's not even the chorus haha.
DeleteForgot to add but I also agree when you say that Bruno's vocals are infectious. It's been so long since I've heard a Bruno Mars song, so it felt good hearing his voice after... I don't know how many years but long enough to be at awe like I'm listening to him for the first time.
And yeah, it really is worth it in the end! :D
One of the best feeling is when you are able to introduce songs that are new to people and gave that song a shot. Even if they end up not liking it, it's still awesome of them to listen to the song rather than brushing it off and saying they hate it if they had never heard of the song in the first place.
I don't think anyone got the line until I told them from where it arose. Even online, no one is talking about it, which is sad. The line is golden comedic relief.
DeleteIt has been ages since Bruno Mars released something good, this and Leave the Door Open have finally changed that, and I too am glad to hear his voice again.
That final paragraph perfectly sums up my thoughts. One can only love and hate if they know, and that is something I love giving.