Friday, February 10 was a busy day in the music world. With new music released across the board, I’m here to review some of the biggest singles of the week. This is new music Friday, featuring single reviews for Gracie Abrams, Dove Cameron, Khalid, and Daniel Caesar.
Amelie – Gracie Abrams
★★★★☆
In the latest single release from her upcoming album Good Riddance, Gracie Abrams presented us with a somber, heartfelt track. This track, full of longing lyrics and quiet guitar, highlights Abrams’s now well-known vocals and lyricism.
Unlike the album’s lead single “Where do we go now?,” this track relies heavily on Abrams’s vocals. Instead of quirky pop synths and fun melodies, most of “Amelie” is backed by only a simple acoustic guitar. This allows Abrams’s breathy vocals to shine throughout the piece. However, as the track comes to reach the bridge, a soft piano and barely-there synths accompany the guitar in a quiet, subtle build-up that parallels the stronger vocals from Abrams.
While the track is quite an instrumental shift from the previous single, Abrams’s lyrics do not falter from the style that has become expected from her. The lyrics are pointedly specific—creating such specific and vivid images that the listener almost feels like they’re experiencing the song themselves. Lyrics such as, “All your words felt like a nursery rhyme / Comfortable, handin’ you my whole life / When all of your words felt like a funeral rite” prove Abrams’s reputation for strong lyricism is not unfounded.
Though the track feels a bit repetitive at times, it is overshadowed by Abrams’s delivery of skillful songwriting and comforting vocals. Overall, this single is a solid track, and it only leaves me with more anticipation for Abrams’s debut album.
We Go Down Together – Dove Cameron & Khalid
★★☆☆☆
This single is the first release from Dove Cameron since her EP Girl Like ME released two months ago in December. Similarly, it’s Khalid’s first release of the year—following “Not Alone” from the Devotion’s soundtrack. While the track is good, it feels a bit mild for both artists, and it leaves a lot to be desired.
The track itself is hauntingly beautiful. Cameron’s whispy vocals complement the soft, dark piano that begins the track. Her voice blends wonderfully with Khalid’s to invoke a strong feeling of melancholy and haunting sadness. It feels very reminiscent of Billie Eilish’s early music. The build into the chorus—with continuously stronger vocals, and the addition of strings and other instrumentals—works wonderfully to emphasize the sentiment of unity in the lyrics.
While objectively the track is pleasant to listen to, the chorus’s lyrics “If you go down / then we go down together” feels almost uncannily similar to The Chainsmoker’s 2017 hit “Paris.” To top it off, the addition of Khalid makes me wonder if the similarity to Eilish’s sound was intentional, as the track feels eerily similar to her and Khalid’s collaboration “Lovely.”
The track is good. It is certainly enjoyable to the ear, and Cameron’s voice works very well in this haunting yet aggressive niche that she has fallen into, but the similarities to this song and those of other artists feel too big to ignore. From two talented artists who I tend to love, this track feels like a bit of a cop-out, and it left me a bit disappointed in its lack of creativity and innovation.
Let Me Go – Daniel Caesar
★★★☆☆
Daniel Caesar’s second single of the new year, “Let Me Go,” is exactly what I would have expected of him, which means it’s exactly what I could’ve wanted from him. While it’s a bit slower than his previous single, it certainly leaves the listener with that calm feeling associated with Caesar’s music.
The opening synth gives an ambient setting to the whole track. The vibrating acoustics feel very meditative and tranquil. It almost made me think I was unknowingly dropped into a meditation room. Caesar’s soft croon does nothing to contradict this feeling. In tandem with the soft high hats and wave-like noises in the background, the best way to describe the track is soft. It feels like being wrapped in a blanket in a quiet room.
As always, Caesar’s voice is outstanding. His falsetto sounds too good to be real, and his smooth mix is fantastic as always. The track truly is a great representation of Caesar’s vocal abilities (though I can’t say he has a track that doesn’t fit that description).
Caesar’s voice is just too good to not love, but the track as a whole does feel a bit underwhelming. The almost minute-long outro feels a bit unnecessary in my opinion, and the track isn’t all that different from the rest of Caesar’s music. And, while that’s not a bad thing, a little bit of differentiation within his discography is certainly not something I would be against. Although, overall, it’s a good track, and it is probably one that I’ll be listening to again.