Jerry's Pick: "Smiley"

 

Smiley-Between Friends

Okay, I’m not a reality show guy, so I did not catch Brandon and Savannah’s performance on “America's Got Talent” in 2013. But, I’ve been a fan of this brother-sister duo since I first heard their single “Suburban Wonderland” when they were known as The Heirs in 2017.

Although they may have changed their moniker to Between Friends the next year, the two brought along their alternative laptop-pop bop which is clearly evident in the tracks “affection” and “better friends.” Both are worth checking out.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when the siblings released the album I Love My Girl, She’s My Boy which spawned several songs of note… “Self Destruct,” “What’s Up” and “Redlight.” But the standout track is their enchanting, effervescent, decidedly flirtatious “Smiley” with lyrics which reflect both of their memories of that early-teen dating scene.

Brandon explains to Office Magazine’s managing editor Sahir Ahmed, “’Smiley’ is about new beginnings, something new.” Savannah added, “And you can tell by the sort of playfulness and the innocence of noticing little details about somebody. You’re there with these blossoming feelings, where you’re uncertain whether you’re in love with someone or if you just care about them.”

It's not just the song’s words, but more-so the way those lyrics are presented. Savannah delivers the frolicsome hook in the same bouncy cadence her insecure 13-year old self may have once teased her middle school crush.

“Do you like the way/I talk about you all day/Wanna hear you say/You talk about me all the time…”

Like a couple other selections found on this album, the pair have been experimenting in post-production. “Smiley” starts with the sounds of someone changing stations on a radio while it ends with an abrupt tempo shift as if someone suddenly hit one of the device’s pre-select buttons.

Sure, it’s light but cute and fun. And it offers listeners a brand new pick-up line...

“I really wanna tell you this/You’re like a song I can’t resist…”

Jerry's Pick: "Perfect"

“Perfect”-The Veronicas

I have always been a fan of a prime power-pop piece. And I just found another to add to my collection.

The Australian duo The Veronicas (Lisa and Jessica Origliasso) have been in the spotlight for about 15-years and during this period the sisters have dabbled in alt-rock to pop and punk to electronica. Judging from their just released new single, the twins have come full circle.

"Perfect" is sprinkled with 90’s styled distorted guitars which merge marvelously with their bright vocals. The production on this track is flawless which features tempo changes and adjusted vocal tones to great effect. When The Veronicas finish singing the subdued line "No one makes it out alive," they immediately stamp a large exclamation-mark on the statement while launching back into potent power-pop mode.

Sure, it’s all been done before, but the girls add a certain luminosity to their aural adventure.

The words -- about how social media has affected our sense of self -- were apparently inspired by an anonymous quote… "In a society that profits from your self-doubt, loving yourself is a rebellious act."

In a press statement, they proclaimed their track is about self love. "'Perfect' is a love letter to our younger and current selves. Perfection has a different meaning for everyone. Social media has changed how we interact with the world. Perception versus reality is rewarded and condemned, from what people wear, to who they date. It's like a magnifying glass. We just want to remind everyone to empower themselves, and free their minds. We all die in the end… we have to live with and love ourselves fiercely first and foremost."

I must admit that their message of "Don’t be afraid to get ugly" loses a bit of its punch after you discover it emanates from a duo of dishy doppelgängers.

Anyway, "Perfect" is the lead-single from The Veronica’s new album "Gothic Summer," due-out during Spring of 2024.

So – to sum this up -- when it comes to power-pop, "Perfect" is, well…

Jerry's Pick: "Before"

“Before”-NIKI

Here’s a not so happily-after-ever ballad born from a dorm-room college crush and all the emotions related to an unrequited deep love and depressing loss. NIKI takes you there by digging deep into her own recent all-too-real personal past by piecing together her pain through poetry.

Some have drawn parallels between this track and Olivia Rodrigo’s breakthrough break-up confessional “Drivers License” from last year, but… “Before” is a zillion-times better. Sure, NIKI comes across vulnerable and melancholy, but also raw and direct with a composition more complete and complex.

It’s an all-too-familiar fractured fairytale. After those post-break-up blues settle into the quietest part of your heart, your hippocampus jumps into overdrive, pulling-up memories in a non-linear fashion, quickly jumping from highs to lows back to highs sprinkled with flashes of how-comes and what-ifs. While listening closely to NIKI’s lyrics, that’s how “Before” appears to have been written.

NIKI – who began writing the song while in her late-teens -- explained, "'Before' is the irresolute ending to my very first love story. I wrote it as a means to create the kind of closure I never had.

While researching NIKI (born Nicole Zefanya), I discovered she’s been a fan of Taylor Swift. Learning this, I’m almost certain a good chunk of her inspiration came from “All Too Well” which details Swift’s own doomed relationship.

From start to finish, “Before” is a four-minute audio-book set to music detailing her other-side-of-the-world long-distance (Indonesia/US East Coast) ill-fated relationship.

“I just flew across the globe/Twenty-two hours just to see you…"

And in NIKI’s case, her heart is like a ticking time bomb. Before they part for the last time, her thoughts obsessively calculate ways to remedy the rescinding romance by surrendering self-esteem while considering becoming that person your future-ex wanted you to be.

“Yeah, we've got forty-eight hours left/Before I fly back to my death…"

But, the affair’s autopsy revealed the romance to have been DOA from the start.

“Did anything ever really count/Or was I just a two-year practice round?/You were all I'd ever known/And now I'm feeling stupid, you're forbidden…"

With time, NIKI knew exactly what to do when handed a load of lemons. She stated, “This project is without a doubt my most favorite thing I have ever made as an artist. It’s where younger me and current me meet and hang and have a fucking blast together."

“Before” will be part of NIKI’s album Nicole which arrives August 12, 2022.