Pop music can be colorful, bright, and filled with a rare vitality in the right setting, despite what the modern mainstream market might be reflecting at the moment. With all of the dirge and scourge of pop radio starting to influence a new movement towards both minimalism and angst-ridden self-awareness, there’s something very sweet about optimism in a single, which is part of the reason why I think so many people – including me – have been abuzz with word of the new track from Samantha Gibb, “Good Lovin’,” this August. As its title would suggest, “Good Lovin’” is a ray of positivity against an otherwise weak backdrop for pop this year.
Now when I say that Samantha Gibb is bringing some optimistic vibes to this track I’m serious, but there’s a shade of self-awareness to be observed here as well; it’s just not being presented with the gloom and doom that a lot of her competition has been bringing into the studio with them as of late. She’s wearing her identity on her sleeve with these lyrics and the imagery in the video for “Good Lovin’,” and her willingness to be humble as well as vulnerable translates much differently than the neo-goth nonsense coming out of the underground has.
I hear collective elements of both Tori Amos and early, pre-club Nelly Furtado in the mix here, but it’s important for me to note that I don’t hear anything recycled in this track – nor in the way this singer is offering it up to us. Gibb is being herself and thus drawing comparisons to those who have charted a bohemian path into the FM spotlight with a single like this one, and I think it’s inevitable that she evolves from this sound as much as she gains momentum in her career because of it.
“Good Lovin’” is both emotional and very disciplined, and I’m looking forward to hearing how Samantha Gibb is planning on following up on its success. She needs to act on the positive attention she’s getting from the press and audiences much sooner than later, and judging from the depth of this performance, she’s got plenty of fresh ideas still in the tank that can be cultivated in a number of ways. This is a good start, and perhaps the right song to introduce her to a larger, mainstream audience than a lot of artists are able to handle at this stage of their career.
