Players with heavy retro influences don’t usually know how to blend crossover aesthetics as well as puritan artists do, but this isn’t stopping an ambitious Sicily Jordan from trying as much in her new single “You Got Me.” “You Got Me” has bold melodic flavors that put it right at the center of the pop universe, and yet so much of its personality feels defined by a mixture of old-school compositional techniques and new-school production cues, the best of which give Jordan’s vocal enough space to stand out even beside what feels like the best-arranged beats of any indie single out this month.
Jordan’s curt attitude with the hook really caught me off guard the first time I listened to this single, but then again, when considering what a lot of her peers have been doing when it comes to creating a sonic peak, it’s not surprising that I would be as taken aback by this piece as I was. There’s no pointless buffering in this recording, but instead, an artist who wants to get right to the meat and potatoes of her performance without dragging us through a lot of pseudo-surreal symbolism. That approach is one I could get used to, and I doubt I’m the only one.
The fluid delivery here suggests a lifetime of both rehearsal and fantasy on the part of Sicily Jordan, both of which I’ve always found to be required in making it from the underground market to mainstream consideration. You can just tell how much this songstress cares for the medium by the delicate manner in which she’s stringing these verses together, which demands one heck of a precise hand at both the microphone as well as behind the board (which isn’t something most critics would admit about this genre specifically).
These harmonies are intentionally overindulgent in a couple of spots, but if you’re going to incorporate decadence into a single, Jordan has found the right way to do so without sounding like a complete outsider to current trends. If anything, her actions in this track are out of rebellion, and it instantly separates what she’s trying to be known for from what the masses in minimalist pop have been doing in the past few years all in the name of collective development. This is more daring, and it feels more original as a result of this player’s drive.
There really isn’t much more that Sicily Jordan needs to do in order to get the attention of pop fans around the world this autumn, and if you think that’s a bit of an overstatement then you clearly have not sat down with “You Go Me” yet. This is a single and music video that takes a little bit of the past and thrust it into the present under the command of a singer and songwriter who knows her way around a verse or two, and if she keeps the pace she’s composing at in this performance than I expect to see her name in the headlines again very soon.
Mindy McCall
