Somethin’ ’bout those vocals…
[Video][Website]
[5.86]
David Sheffieck: The vocals are disappointingly generic, which is a shame, because this gets so much else right: the clever incorporation of Autotune, the depth and variety of the percussion, the synth squelches popping in toward the end. Can we introduce SOHN to the concept of featured vocalists, please?
[5]
Anthony Easton: Because I am autistic, and because I am severely depressed — especially in the winter, when the affectlessness of mood becomes catastrophic — I often ask others how I am feeling. Rarely do I place it in the midst of a house-gospel rave up. I should start doing that; it might make things go easier.
[8]
Will Adams: Much like Moderat’s “Bad Kingdom,” “Artifice” finds its electronics-steeped producer trying his hand at pop. Both are successful for the same reasons: allowing clattering percussion and ominous bass to co-exist with a hook-filled chorus. “Artifice” edges closer to convention, but it’s no less fresh or engaging to hear.
[8]
Brad Shoup: It’s perfect: the non-standard capitalization, the consistent artwork (said name laid over a breathtaking natural feature), the underwhelming synthpop. I’ll give him this: he’s got a fine anonymous R&B vocal style. I hope he never realizes that.
[4]
Katherine St Asaph: A sticky beat, like a Savage Garden MIDI maybe, the sort of thing that takes roughly half a playthrough for me to start to idly freestyle-sing over. That’s usually a good sign for the beat; less so for caring about the singer.
[6]
Scott Mildenhall: SOHN’s voice is too polite to really convey the crisis he sings of. The cut-up closes to the verses don’t quite suggest the displacement they seem to be meant to either, because everything about this feels perfectly in place. That’s a good thing when the constituents are so pleasant, but then pleasant isn’t the desired effect.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Decent electronics, undecent vocals and sentiments from the pre-1997 Thom Yorke School of Angst. “Somebody better show me how to feel,” indeed.
[4]