Tom: CAPS LOCK BAND NAME
Tim: APPARENTLY IT’S NECESSARY. “This is how it sounds when a burning nostalgia is mixed with a summer evening, when you lose yourself in dance and spirits and love, and in that moment everything is okay.”
Tom: Oh blimey. The copyeditor’s been working overtime, then?
Tim: Spoiler alert: that does actually come across, and it’s not just meaningless PR garbage!
Tom: Damn it, you’re not wrong, and I’m actually slightly grumpy about that. It’s those harmonies in the second verse, isn’t it?
Tim: Amongst many other things, yes. I don’t understand the lyrics in real time, but it doesn’t matter, because the emotion flows perfectly. Starts out a bit downbeat, but picks up the pace to show that things aren’t so bad. Then we’ve got that brilliant instrumental bit, which although is technically a post-chorus, almost feels better suited to being a lengthy intro to a fresh part of the song. And the fresh part is still great, a bit heftier until we drop back down for a final look back at the times that have gone.
Tom: Like I said: second-verse harmonies!
Tim: But finally everything comes together, with a repeat of the chorus and then a reprise of that glorious earlier instrumental break, with upbeat and triumphant brass all over it, and it all just sounds so, so wonderful. Everything is conveyed perfectly, the message comes across, and the song just works.
Tom: Is it actually something I want to listen to, though? With something like this, it feels like it’d be more at home in a movie trailer than in a pop playlist.
Tim: You say that, it brings me nicely to my final point: as a pop song it’s pretty good; as a piece of music, it’s outstanding.