Pop music doesn’t need a lot of lyrics to be emotional and poetic from top to bottom, and Taylor Jules exhibits the raw power of melodicism specifically in her single “Helicopter,” now out everywhere.
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From the start, we’re invited to bask in the glow of a surreal lead vocal from Jules that is riddled with emotionality as cutting as it is endearing to our most intimate sensibilities. We meet the piano’s unabashed cries, which crush us with their sway but fall short of devolving into straight-up balladry in the style of a traditional sad song. You don’t have to be familiar with the modern pop beat to appreciate the provocative aesthetics that are present in this song.
Helicopter has two stages that it flows through without ever encountering the stylistic hiccups that so many of Jules’ peers have dealt with when trying to conceive something as ambitiously constructed as this track is. The first stage is defined by the torment of the piano as it tries to find a space within the spotlight here, and it does everything that it can to escape the grasp of the grip of the drums as we reach the first chorus.
The second starts after the midway point in the track and focuses all of the limelight on the vocal as it makes harmony with the bassline almost too strong for the backdrop to handle. We’re in the palm of Jules’ hand after such a short period, and clinging to her dexterous verses by the time we’re at the second chorus of the song.
The true treasure in this track is the sharply crafted melodies, which I believe could bring any music fan around to this artist’s style regardless of the format or environment in which it’s presented.
There’s plenty of ground left for this singer/songwriter to cover in upcoming projects, but there’s no denying that she’s firing on all cylinders. If you’re as devoted an indie pop fan as I am, something in my gut tells me that you are not going to regret streaming Helicopter.
Garth Thomas