Lemar - 'If She Knew'
Lemar has claimed that he wrote upwards of 70 songs for his new album. An album which contains just ten songs. That's seven-oh, not one-seven. Seventy! He says that this ridiculous overwork was a result of being alone in America with a bunch of producers to work with, and the free time to really focus. And somehow having seven times as many songs as you could possibly need wasn't seen as a massive waste of time and resources, nor are all 70-odd songs going to be released. What Lemar's team would have us believe is that this is a driven artist, compulsively working, purging his soul, as the muse directs him. But it does leave us with a question...
Namely, this is the best one? Out of all SEVENTY? Blimey...
Don't get me wrong, this is a perfectly nice song. It's got those nowadays R&B chuntersynths on it, the ones that sound like ghostly steam engines in full flow, Lemar is in fine voice, the song has highs and lows, starts off whisper-soft and builds to a dramatic climax, seems to tell a good story, and straddles the twin peaks of dramatic soul and glassy synthpop without stretching too hard.
It's just, now that I know it's considered to be the most amazing, head-turning, genius comeback song of the entire portfolio, I would have expected more. I would've liked a massive choir giving it the full 'Bohemian Rhapsody', with Lemar pushing his voice from honeypuss croon to full banshee wail in short order. Then I would've liked one of those Eddie Van Halen widdly guitar solos like on 'Beat It', just for the extra madness quota.
After this, I would've liked a total breakdown in the middle for some tribal chanting, and for the handclaps and footstomps to become part of the rhythm track for the chorus. A chorus which also features an electric bassoon, a wah-wah banjo and a quartet playing underwater clarinet. And a melody which sounds utterly alien and yet entirely familiar at the same time.
So you can see why a thoroughly decent pop-soul number with a modern sheen is going to be something of a let-down in comparison.
*sigh*
Download: Out now
CD Released: November 10th
(Fraser McAlpine)
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