The new single from Blondeking, Absolution, is a lesson in not only genre crossing but also time travel! Absolution is a classy and gripping song which has a 70s disco feel, coupled with some 80s styles (especially instrumentation) together with a 90s/current production on the vocals. What a journey!
The moment the song started, all of us here at Send Me Your Ears – in unison – said “Hell Yeah”!!! I kid you not! This song grips you right from the start with a quick drum fill and then all in with the full band sound. It almost felt like ABC – Shoot That Poison Arrow when it started.
The bassline is super funky and grooves along, keeping the whole song together and the occasional burst of synth horns keeps the track firmly in the 80s!
There’s a moment when the background keys reminded me of Talking Heads – Once In a Lifetime, and there were definite patches of Duran Duran in here too. All of which ticked many boxes for us here!
The song shifts well between sections with different instrumentation coming and going and the addition of a tambourine in the choruses.
The vocals are clear and present and are very much at the forefront. All instruments and vocals are provided by Thomas Dickens who admits that he “never wanted to be a frontman”. His vocals have a kind of “Daft Punk” tuned feel to them and for me this just detracts slightly from it feeling authentically 80s music. Perhaps if the vocals were tuned due a lack of confidence rather than a production decision I would suggest a sweeping EQ dip in the mid to high mid range. This will balance out the vocals and make them feel a little more natural. If, however, the intention was to make the vocals noticeably tuned, as in many modern pop songs, then all power to Blondeking for crossing that genre line.
This is a well produced, striking song. If it were me, I’d have given a boost around 50-60Hz to give the kick a little more punch, and I’d like to hear a lot more stereo in the track, but all in all a great track.
In Absolution, Utah artist “Blondeking” has managed to produce a funky track which transports you effortlessly between periods of time and genres of music. Great stuff!