Incredibly sweet, “Something,” the newest from The Ries Brothers manages to be so while sounding their age.
While most acoustic pop sounds like my dentist should be angry at me for the amount of cavities the sticky sweetness gives, “Something” is less confectionary.
The Ries Brothers Shatter Rules of Pop
When the song begins, the classic slow acoustic trope takes over, slow guitar and a clear, yet meaningful vocalist. Instantly, you know the song can go one or two ways: continue in its Ed Sheeran “+” glory, or actually attempt something different.
Then the beat picks up, and all pre-notioned thought of an acoustic single without a heartbeat and regard for sugar intake flies out of the window. Dentists everywhere are relieved.
“Something” has this pop vibe, drums and cool synth that give this record a strong backbone and slight edge. At some point, the acoustic guitar is traded for a neat electric guitar solo, something every rock fan can appreciate.
The musicality switches up incandescently in this one. Maracas. Bass. Marimba. All accompanied with the infectious hook “Isn’t it really something that I would never do?” Though the lyric isn’t about constructing a hit single, it could easily be applied.
Experimentation Taken by the Horns
Who would ever pair such fun instrumentals with acoustic to make a pop hit?
“The song has very contrasting parts that we wanted to flow together,” says the band. The result of adding synth and keyboards the brothers hadn’t worked with before contributed to a delightfully experimental single.
Maturity is probably the element that makes this record so great. Near the end, the track delivers the same slow vibes from the beginning. What could be mistaken at the beginning of the single as a cop-out is understood as a tribute to blues. The single chords of the guitar and the absence of the fun pop dance elements for a few seconds illustrate that intention.
The Views From the Outside, Ries Brothers’ first full-length, is out today.
