With a heavy bass, an organic percussive thrust, and layered vocals that beckon us closer with their honest statements, “Nothing Like” by Chris Beer has instrumental charms that go well above the status quo in modern alternative pop. There’s something really decadent about this song that transcends the minimalistic structure of the lyrics and melodies beneath them, and while I wasn’t listening to Chris Beer before getting into “Nothing Like,” the sonic integrities of this release have made me curious about his ability – and, perhaps more importantly, what it might produce if put in the right circumstances.
There’s an undeniable resistance towards the melody in Beer’s delivery here that affects how we’re to interpret the harmony, and although it’s broken up intentionally, it doesn’t feel totally fractured nor removed from the cohesiveness of the mix. He’s picking away at the cracks in the cement per se, splitting open the ground beneath his feet and allowing for the percussion to serve as the only barrier between his lyrical narrative and the endless abyss of silence on the other side of the track, and whether you call it postmodern or not, it enhances the daringness of his poetry here without question.
Watch the video for “Nothing Like” below
Beer’s whisper-like vocal accentuates the theme of these verses perfectly, and I don’t think “Nothing Like” would sound as moody as it does were there a heavier attack from behind the microphone. He takes it slow with his words here, but he also doesn’t hold back from telling us what’s in his heart – just from adjoining his voice to the instrumental melodicism forming in the backdrop. Lurking in the fog, we find an emotional center in this single that is incredibly relatable, and moreover, supremely affective when placed beside the inventive instrumentation in the master mix.
Full-spectrum alternative pop songs aren’t nearly as common in the mainstream as they were just fifteen years ago, and I believe that Chris Beer is presenting one in “Nothing Like” likely to have critics and fans around the world singing his praises this season. Thoughtfully poetic but instrumentally sporting as much creativity as a pop single can without sounding a little too left of the dial for mass consumption, “Nothing Like” is alluring and refreshing for those of us who have been needing something different to get lost in, and I hope to hear more material in its style from Chris Beer a lot sooner than later.