I know it’s a bit silly, because it comes down to individual tastes, but I’ve been obsessed with this House track (and I am not even the biggest house fan) for reasons unclear to me.
How is it so damn groovy?! It’s also very “simple” - very basic, very familiar instruments, simple layers. Yet, together it just feels so good. I want to dance every time I listen to it.
Can we speculate a bit on what makes it good?
I don’t know how much you can academically analyze how you feel about a track, but on a psychological level I’d say that this has at least 2 things going for it.
First is that there’s a super dry, catchy bassline which they make sure to show you front and center, right from the start. That bassline rides throughout the entire track except for a half bar dropout at like 50 seconds into the track at the end of the first build, then it drops out for longer during the long “deep” build just before 2:00 where they add some tension.
The other strong point is that there is nothing technically wrong with it. It’s not too long so it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. The composition, the instrumentation, the drums, the arrangement, the mix. As you noted, simple, basic, familiar, there is nothing poking in your ear saying “but if they did this instead…” Even the vocalist isn’t doing anything remarkable, but it’s easy to ignore.
It sounds simple but I think it’s not as simple as that, to make something with just the right elements to not stand out too much, or just the right balance of easy to listen to / easy to enjoy / easy to forget. This track is groovy, but I almost think it has no style of it’s own, and that may be it’s ultimate appeal.
Anyway, I don’t listen to a lot of house these days so it’s just an opinion, if someone else thinks it’s super deep on another level that’s fine too.
Its the groove. It always is.
Bouncy bass and subtle effects. Easy going voice helps.
Yeah, simply groove. I’d prefer it more stripped down, lose the vocals and the single shot synths, and the tacky drum rolls.
It has that…this reminds me of another house track sound
As as you rack your brain you realize it has elements from a whole bunch of bygone house releases from the late 80s
This.
To my ear, several of the lines exhibit small amounts of surprise: one note that goes up when I expect it to go down, and just enough melodic&rhythmic complexity that I can almost keep up, but not quite.
Also, that bassline is great.
I don’t find this particular track addicting. In a club, it perfectly gets the job done to make people dance on it. So it is groovy enough for this purpose. Beyond the club experience, the bass line is too repetitive (even if catchy) and the vocal parts do not seem to add much, if anything at all, to the track. The occasional instrumental riser and transitional parts are well done though.
The lyrics sum up my feelings about the piece: Wanting more.
My gripe probably belongs in the “Technique everybody loves but mehs me out” thread: Every time there is an instrumental riser, it goes nowhere. Bridge to nowhere. Sudden loss of intensity despite the preceding music suggesting otherwise. This technique of anticlimax is frequently employed in pop songs during the transition from verse-one to verse-two, where the expectation of contrasting material is temporarily thwarted . In the above song, however, the climax never happens. There is no change, no contrasting section. Serial letdown. The musical analog of a shaggy dog story.
Yep Exactly. A Touch of funk… Solid groove, a rubbery bass the good ol subtle sexy voice! even a touch of Hard House stabs! It´s everything you’ve kinda heard before and loved a bit of. If you catch my drift