It took a comment from a now sadly departed friend to make me reconsider my pop ways. We were having one of our long chats about music and he said, "I don't think you even know what pop music is." The comment stopped me in my tracks, but on reflection I realised he was right and that I'd been hiding in the underground for too long. My idea of pop most certainly wasn't the same as those that actually take notice of the Billboard 100.
I took it personally and the Slow Pop playlist was born. I can't lie though, my heart wasn't really in it, the chore of searching all the major label commercial music by numbers for those rare moments of creativity and singularity was too much to cope with, so I quickly gravitated to the alt-pop world and relaxed my barriers to entry to make it more pleasurable. Finding new music should be a buzz not a chore, and soon as I heard the new single by Vraell there was no hesitation, he was in.
Vraell is a classically trained musician who's been releasing music for the last five years, ploughing a really pleasant folky pop furrow that is not only easily digestible by your average Joe, it also has some hidden depths for the saddos like me that spend far too much time in front of a pair of speakers.
Simple guitar and an easy vibe kick things off, but it's not long before the star of the show joins, his wonderfully soft edged, disarming vocals telling a well articulated tale of distance friendships, their difficulties and the joy of those reunions. The mantric guitar refrain keeps us company throughout but don't get too sidetracked by that voice, there's some cultured twists and attention to detail to check out, including a great improvised breakdown and some classy, well judged strings that take their time in arriving but when they do usher in a fittingly emotional finale.
It's a lovely tune and if you like it then I'm sure you'll appreciate what else he has to offer - go on, get your pop on. You can find this cracker unsurprisingly in the Slow Pop playlist.
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