Bright Star – Mr Nic (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

“Bright Star” is one of those smart tracks that carries you along without you even registering the fact, slow-burning from understated sonics to anthemic energies; it seems that it is only when you pause and look back that you realise just how far it has taken you. Rising from dulcet classical tones and graceful strings that sweep and swoon, thanks in no small part to oboist Carolina Prado and lead violinist Lara Simpson, it soon begins to pulsate with an enticing beat, a pulse of energy that serves as the engine room for this ever-evolving track.

Liquid sonics are wrapped around this core, and the song slowly cocoons itself in all manner of additional layers and tones and textures – resonant percussion, deft guitar licks, banks of heavenly harmonies courtesy of Gospel of Itunu Joe and the Epoch House Choir, Ivan Shalimov‘s gossamer synths, and, eventually, a rock-infused six-string break.

It is a testament to Mr Nic that he can work with all these contrasting and compelling sounds in such a succinct way that they never clash or step on each other’s toes. A place for everything and everything in its place, as the saying goes. As the music builds, as the sonic weight is added, as the tensions rise, it does so seamlessly, naturally, purposefully.

And the accompanying video is the perfect mirror to this musical progression – a ballet dancer’s grace reflecting the subtle and serene intro, the DJ masterfully ushering in the beats, and, by the halfway point, we find ourselves in the full-on, neon-lit, glitz-and-glamour of the clubland world. From grace to groove in a matter of minutes!

As a package, it is perfect, the music driving the visuals, the visuals in turn putting an image to the euphoric effect of the song. It would be easy for lazy journalists (not me, other lazy journalists) to tag this as merely a dance track and be done with it. But “Bright Star” is so much more than that. It mixes, matches, and merges genres, bringing together sounds and styles that don’t really belong together yet work brilliantly – a master stroke of music-making.

Dance music? Okay, yes, of course, but much more too. So much more.