Friday 1 August 2008

New Single 'Crush' debuted on Z100


David Archuleta's first single was debuted this morning on Z100 on Elvis Duran's popular morning show. Millions of listeners tuned into listen to Davids first single and Elvis declared that for the first time in a very long time, not a single text message sent in had been negative about the song. The single has struck a chord with the press and has generated positive feedback from polls on USMagazine and People magazine websites. The single is not officially released for another month but should generate plenty of airtime and hype in the up-coming 4 weeks. Davids first single has quite a lot riding on it. An instant success is what Jive and 19E will be desperately hoping for and David himself will have invested his time and effort into making this the best it can be. So has the new single struck a chord with yours truly?

Ok ill get the negative stuff out the way first. The mix is poor. The chorus vocals are too far back so I dont feel im getting all the 'meat' of the chorus melody as well as some vocal effects which sound unfinished and various other sections sound a bit out of balance, certain instruments and elements of the vocals sound slightly pressed back or too far forwardhowever I understand the mix was being finalised the night before so it may not be up to scratch. The song is essentially a teen pop song, generic and catchy, an instant hit following a tried and tested recipe for success aiming for a teen market to achieve chart success. Its not particularly deep musically or lyrically, it may come across as slightly insipid at times and doesn't push any boundaries from any perspective. But is that really the point? No. Not at all.

The first thing came into my head when the song finished was perfect. The song is perfect. Perfect for David at 17 years of age aiming to break into the charts off the back of a very successful series of American Idol. The song is catchy, amiable, up-lifting and most importantly fun. The lyrics address an issue we have all felt at least once in our life sung in a very endearing way. The whole feel of the song is approachable, appealing and is definitely a song you could see yourself singing in the shower, in the car or at a party with all your friends. That is the kind of song that generates chart success and combined with Davids luscious vocal tones its a real winner. The chorus is fabulously melodic without becoming cheesy or too serious. It sits delicately in between both at the absolute perfect happy medium enabling it to cross demographics better than most songs ive heard in recent times. However, despite all of this, I think the biggest achievement of this song is David has managed to create a viable worldwide top-10 hit without copying any artists or treading on their toes. Although the song is fairly generic, I don't think that it sounds copied or that it is imitating any other artists. It shares elements of Chris Brown and OneRepublic with a Avril Lavigne type chorus arrangement but still sounds unique and recognisible in the bigger picture, a trait that few artists can claim these days. And did I mention the vocal performance? It goes way beyond anything in the current charts proving that even in the confines of a commercial song, David can still deliver the goods vocally.

I talked in my previous post about what I would like to see in Davids up-coming album and 'Crush' has scored an absolute home-run in terms of fitting in with commercial chart singles category I talked about. Catchy, amiable, rhythmical and fun. It wont be my favorite song on the album but it is without a doubt the perfect song for David to launch his career with. David talked about making an album that is fun and young and I think 'Crush' is the perfect song for that to begin with. I can picture it being played at many future parties that I shall be attending and that catchy chorus will be floating round the population for weeks to come. Its stuck in my head now and I bet its stuck in yours too. If there is any justice in the music industry, this song will reach #1.

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