Chasing Velvet drop single

Chasing Velvet drop single

URL: https://chasingvelvet.com/

If you’re in the mood for pop music that can light up an arena but still maintain a close intimacy with its listeners, Chasing Velvet’s superbly sizzling new single “If I May” was made especially for you. This Brisbane, Australia based twosome haven’t been a part of the scene for very long but are already garnering significant attention and praise for their artistry and attention to detail exhibited on their upcoming rookie extended play Replay, and although many pop fans have grown a little untrusting of the genre over the last few years as monotony has once again begun to plague Top 40 radio, Chasing Velvet are here to reinvigorate the style with a shot of adrenaline right to its core. Using euphoric melodies that sensuously marry tonal eroticism with reverent, uncompromisingly dreamy vocals, this pair of songwriters aren’t just pushing the limits, they’re rebelling against an entire class of lazy, unimaginative artists trying to sneak into stardom.

“If I May” is suited to certainly find a home on the R&B, indie or standard pop charts thanks to its nimble production and integrated duality as a track that makes it appealing to both mainstream pop fans as much as it does to more intellectually inclined audiences. While I think that Replay could end up having a pretty decent impact on both sides of the Pacific if it gathers more momentum from the R&B crowd, there’s no debating that a song like “If I May” is going to have the most success in the indie pop world, where its surrealism is celebrated so much more now that its postmodernity is rarer than it was say ten or fifteen years ago. It’s a nice reprisal for the approach, and maybe Chasing Velvet are the perfect band to champion its resurgence, since not only do they have the delicate vocals to really make the emphasis on simplicity all the more shimmering, but they have the craftsmanship of longtime stewards of their medium, which tells me that they’re mature enough to make postmodern music that isn’t overwhelmingly pretentious or, dare I even suggest it, megalomaniacal. The best demonstration of this latter point is in the stripped down mechanics of “If I May;” the grind of the beat that makes this track as funky and memorable as it does is punctuated with a poignant, almost affectionately soft set of vocals, and the juxtaposition (more so the clash if I’m being fair) is the most breathtaking element in the song.

Even as pop stars have seemingly gotten more and more cartoonish as the 2010s have dragged on, its bold, opulent pieces like this that keep critics like myself inspired by the tenacity and sheer will to survive that only the international music underground contains. Chasing Velvet may have a ways to go before they prove their staying power as a pop unit, but “If I May” and Replay definitely serve as a riveting jumping off point if I do say so myself. Replay hits stores this August, and if this single is just a taste of what it has to offer, it promises to be one of the best debut releases of the year.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/chasingvelvet/

Michael Rand