Swaggering and laden with a groove as intoxicating as it is reminiscent of the summer sun at its warmest and most inspirational, there’s no stopping the chills that come pouring out of our speaker upon pressing play on the new single and music video “You Know Me” from Now Endeavor. In “You Know Me,” this Detroit twosome doesn’t water-down any of the concepts they’ve presented to us in past releases – instead, they embark on a new leg of the journey, bracing us for an upcoming chapter in their story with a psychedelic-tinged R&B/hip-hop crossover track certain to get you excited about the future.
While the vocals are a linchpin in the framework of the main harmony in this single, they’re not the only agent of communication that Now Endeavor are employing here at all; they’re simply the most exposed in the big picture. The drums, the muted bassline, even the structure of the rhythm – everything is acting as a bridge to something else in “You Know Me,” reinforcing the theme of unity and familiarity being suggested in the lyrics. There’s no filler to be found, and if there was, it would have gotten in the way of this completely concise, one of a kind offering.
Now Endeavor’s Survival EP is one of my favorite new records to debut in the year 2020, and this lead single is undisputedly its cornerstone composition. “You Know Me” is framed as an ambitious R&B effort, but in reality, it feels more indebted to the experimentations of a modern hip-hop edge than it does anything else in the pop lexicon. It’s got the versatility to appeal to a number of different audiences that would otherwise be at odds with each other when browsing new content in the record store, and if nothing else, that alone makes it quite the gem for indie connoisseurs everywhere.