Review: Blanks - Never Have I Ever
After several recommendations from friends and people I follow online (once again, including Haruko. Thanks!), I finally decided to check out the music of Dutch YouTuber and singer Simon, better known as Blanks. From what I have understood, his sound is highly influenced by 80s synths and other retro elements.
While it is not his best song that I have heard, Never Have I Ever is quite recent and thus has received this review.
Never Have I Ever is short and fun, as one would expect from a new 80s song. At less than three minutes (a slightly disturbing trend that seems to become more and more omnipresent as time goes on), Never Have I Ever has to make an impact as quickly as possible.
As expected, a whole lot of that comes down to the central refrains across the chorus. Thus, it is repeated quite often, slightly dulling its impact each time around. Nonetheless, from its keyboard usage to the straightforward tune, it hits surprisingly hard. The production is surprisingly authentic to the era it is attempted to emulate, and the song greatly improves from this.
Other than the central refrain, the song really does not have as much impact. Nonetheless, it is far from totally forgettable. The strong retro synths carry over from the chorus and still remain central to the song. Even if it can be a little filler at times, it never is really a negative to the song.
Minor productional flourishes are highly important to the song. From the aforementioned keyboard to the surprising cowbell, the little surprises keep the listener on their toes. This is essential, for a song as short and repetitive as Never Have I Ever.
Overall, Never Have I Ever is far from essential, but it certainly is fun, and that is far from a bad thing. This song is groovy, and that itself is great.
Heard this earlier today and it's so cute. At least it puts you in a good mood.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly does put a smile on your face!
DeleteYou have no idea how happy I am to see you review a song by Blanks. What a good day today is!
ReplyDeleteApart from the musical choice of using synths(!) and other inspired retro elements in a lot of his songs, I think Blanks also excels in having a hook. I think that's one of his best strengths when it comes to his songs. I already recommended one of my favourite songs called "Turn Around" in my Twitter account and that song has such a great chorus.
I forgot to mention this but for anyone who wants to see more of his skills in his composing: his covers of other artists' songs like Post Malone & Swae Lee's "Sunflower" (my favourite cover of his) is worth checking out.
I admire his skills as a composer as he reimagines these songs in his own Blanks way! A nice bonus is that he shows his process in the song-making for his covers and his own songs. I find that both interesting and refreshing to see as a K-pop fan.
The irony that he goes by Blanks when this man is filled with creativity and joy, haha!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this song! I'm really excited for his upcoming 1st album that will come out in October this year.
Haha, thanks Haruko! You were one of the many to introduce me to him, so thanks again!
DeleteI heard Turn Around after you mentioned it, it is a great song too! I'd say it is slightly superior to this one lol.
I will check out those covers. I love when artists reinterpret songs :)
Looking forward to the album too!