There’s a lot that a song like Dynamyte’s new single “Show Me You” can teach us about the artist responsible for its creation, and I’m not just talking about the lyrics that adorn its sultry beat. When I listened to “Show Me You,” I couldn’t help but notice that there were emotional communications being made from most every instrumental component in the track – the percussion, the piano, even the dark bassline that sweeps away the leftover melodic shards in the background. There’s a little bit of pain in the harmony between Dynamyte’s voice and the piano balanced by a lot of optimistic confidence in the pushiness of the drums. It’s obvious that nothing is being held back or stifled in this mix; thanks to producer MkX, who just so happens to be Dynamyte’s brother (and her collaborator in their eponymous Michael & Marisa project), everything is presented to us as though we were listening to a live performance inside of a small venue somewhere instead of simply taking in another studio-recorded hybrid in an ocean full of indie fusion cocktails.
The master mix here is intentionally rough and textured, a stark contrast from what a lot of Michael & Marisa’s most recognizable work has sounded like. There’s a pop hook buried in the midst of the jazzy beats here that isn’t all that different from what I’d expect out of an Ariana Grande track (an artist, I should point out, that Michael & Marisa opened for in the past) After all, with a voice like hers, there doesn’t need to be a lot of extra compositional assistance present for Dynamyte to erupt like the vocal volcano that we all know she can be.
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If what I’m hearing in “Show Me You” is just a preview of what’s still to come from the solo discography of Dynamyte, I won’t be skipping over any of her future releases when it comes to crafting an ‘Artists to Watch’ playlist in 2020. She’s got a lot of competition in both the mainstream and the underground, but based on the spirit that she’s putting into this first single, I think we can anticipate some really worthwhile material coming our way as she finds her footing in this new chapter of her career. Fans have a player in Dynamyte who has countless options in front of her, and regardless of whether or not she sticks to the script she just dished out in this track, my gut tells me that she isn’t going to put her name on anything that would qualify as being even remotely subpar by critical standards. We’ll know for sure soon when her sophomore release makes it way to record stores.
Garth Thomas