405
My wife and kids no longer ask me to pick the music in the car.
"Not this one, dad."
"Please play some actual music."
These are the criticisms I hear as I share some of my favorite tracks, which include head-scratchers like 'The Ballad of Me and My Brain' and 'You Are Invited.'
These tracks usually feature some kind of strange off-beat or talk-singing--where the vocals feel like more of an extension of the instruments than something unique or separate from the instruments themselves. Vocals that find themselves completing, not competing.
So when I started listening to Justin Bieber's newest record, SWAG, I found myself enjoying just about every track until reaching what I consider to be a magnum opus on the "Tommy Likes This One" charts. Track 17: 405.
The track starts with Aquatic Ambience-invoking synth that makes my brain go crazy, and goes on to include the exact kind of ethereal exaggerated syncopation and talk-singing that I love. Bieber's vocals on this track sound more like 'drum-and-bass' than 'Bieber pop melody,' and it's exactly the kind of thing that I just can't stop listening to.
"405 again?" asks my tired wife.
I respond, "405 again."
I know it'll never hit the top Justin Bieber tracks on Spotify, but that's why I want to recommend it to you.
Go check it out. 405