As the new one from Messy Eater starts to build, you wonder if you might have dropped the virtual needle on the wrong record, perhaps one aimed at kids, but just as you are about to check what is going on, it explodes into a sassy array of sounds and styles.
“Learning to love what I see in the mirror” is a great sentiment for a song and a great skill to learn in life, something I suspect that we all need to work on. It is also a great song. Blending effortless, innocent indie-pop vibes with a Motown groove, spoken-word interludes, and stabs of brass, it feels like the perfect blend of past soul-funk glories and more modern sonic adventures, like Gorillaz writing music in the style of Songs in the Key of Life era Stevie Wonder – both classic and of the moment!
But what matters more than the who, what, and when of possible inspirations is just how much fun this is. It grooves infectiously, it inspires, no, demands movement on the part of the listener, it is light and luminous, and takes a very serious theme (don’t be so damn hard on yourself, you’re perfect as you are) and turns it all into the soundtrack for the best night of your life.
How can a song be so deeply poignant and yet the most sonic fun you can have in three minutes? Well, if we knew how Messy Eater does it, we’d all be doing it, wouldn’t we? But we aren’t, and that is what makes this song, and the man behind it, such a revelation.
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