An Add-Shot of Pop: Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”
Breathy and a bit bratty, in the best possible way, Sabrina Carpenter’s breakout hit, “Espresso” is easily a song-of-the-summer contender. As the track awakens, it’s cool and quiet, just the sound of shimmery synth keys, handclaps, and a deep bass line in the background can be heard. But it’s quick to rise and shine into a caffeinated eight-line chorus (repeated four times in less than three minutes) that proudly boasts the effect one can have on a partner, specifically the prowess of delivering a shot of love so strong, it’s enough to instill a bout of insomnia (“Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know/That’s that me, espresso”).
And while this hook and most of the lyrical content, for that matter, are far from grammatically correct (“Walked in and dream came trued it for ya”; “One touch and I brand newed it for ya”), certain liberties are allowed when crafting a smart, sugary pop song, the kind of sonic addiction that gets into a listener’s veins and brain, and won’t let go. Is it that sweet? I know so.
The Pop Zeal Project (Track 84): Gwen Stefani: “The Real Thing”
When Gwen Stefani of No Doubt ventured out to make her first solo album, 2004’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby., the singer used it as a creative outlet to pursue other forms of music besides the ska/post-punk sound, for which the band was already famous. While on The Harajuku Lovers Tour to support the solo effort, Stefani, during an interaction with the crowd after “Crash,” offered insight as to the intention behind L. A. M. B.:
Stefani’s creative direction for L. A. M. B. pointed towards psychedelic pop-punk.
“I was on tour with No Doubt… and I said to Tony… wouldn’t it be fun to make a dance record? Very, very clean, easy, simple idea… I was never gonna tour the record, but then you guys keep buying the record, you keep bringing me out, you keep tempting me. And I’m on this big ol’ wave and I just wanna crash right down on top of you, and I just wanna hear you guys sing the songs back to me.”
The song in the setlist before “Crash,” entitled “The Real Thing” was cowritten by Stefani, Linda Perry, and Stefani’s then-husband, Gavin Rossdale, and co-produced by Nellee Hooper (No Doubt’s “Hella Good”; “Running”; their cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life”). Lyrically, the love song expresses how much one, after being with another for some time, still wants, and needs, the other around. Presumably, Stefani and Rossdale, each with their own rock-star careers and busy schedules, were writing about each other at the time, with the following lyrics a reflection of their relationship: “And we’re together most days/But I still love to have you around”. However, in 2016, after 14 years of marriage, Stefani and Rossdale divorced, making one of the track’s later verses a bit prophetic: “Heaven knows what will come next/So emotional, you’re so complex/A rollercoaster, built to crash/But I still love to have you around.” (Note another reference to the word, crash.)
Musically, “The Real Thing” was heavily (and intentionally) inspired by New Order’s 1986 track, “Bizarre Love Triangle.” Stefani would have been 17 years old when the synth-pop song was first released, and indicates another musical style that Stefani was interested in besides the ska/post-punk sound that a budding No Doubt was embracing. (One can almost imagine Stefani staying up late on a Sunday night to watch MTV’s “!20 Minutes” to catch the video for “Bizarre,” or sliding a cassette tape into a boombox during lunch at Anaheim’s Loara High School.) Into adulthood, Stefani remained a fan of the English alternative-pop band, and reached out to collaborate with them. After initially declining, the band’s singer, Bernard Sumner ended up contributing backing vocals, while Peter Hook played bass on Stefani’s musical homage.
Listening to “The Real Thing,” one may not necessarily hear the direct influence of “Bizarre.” But in listening to “Bizarre,” and then returning back to “The Real Thing,” the similarities become more evident. For example:
The guitar riff in the outro of “Bizarre”; the intro to “The Real Thing.”
Melody: In “Bizarre” at the lyrics: “There’s no sense in telling me/The wisdom of the fool won’t set you free.” In “The Real Thing” at the aforementioned: “Heaven knows what will come next/So emotional, you’re so complex.”
Gwen Stefani’s “The Real Thing,” and essentially the Love. Angel. Music. Baby. period as a whole, marks one of the most important moments in Stefani’s career: Sonically, it’s a purposeful step from ska to synth pop and other sounds; visually, as seen on The Harajuku Lovers Tour, it’s a shift from rugged rock star to polished platinum-Marilyn pop star, complete with what would become Stefani’s signature: the retro red lip. “The Real Thing” serves as another way Stefani solidified herself as the real deal.
Red Lip Photo by John Shearer.
Hi-Fi Sci-Fi: Five Favorite Daft Punk Moments
Formed in 1993, Daft Punk consists of the French duo, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who have continued to don dapper futuristic personas, shielding their faces from the public by wearing gleaming robot-inspired helmets. In one sense, this allows a focus toward the sci-fi sound of their music, while, in turn, it works as an inventive marketing strategy that balances professional familiarity with personal anonymity.
“Around the World,” from their 1997 debut album, Homework, celebrates the cyclical, from the song title itself (the track’s only lyrics on a synthesized loop) to its therefore mostly instrumental, intentionally repetitive retro-funk sound. Even its video embraced spherical visuals: dancers, assigned to designated riffs, beats and blips, moving on a concentric circular stage, plus there’s colorful backdrop of porthole lighting. Daft Punk made going around in circles more desirable than dizzying:
Four years later, they released, Discovery, which featured the fitting “One More Time”; “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” which would later be heavily sampled by Kanye West on his 2007 track, “Stronger”; and “Digital Love.” Remember this commercial for the GAP, with the actress and singer, Juliette Lewis? (The jeans—and the video quality itself—are shall we say, vintage.)
From Madison Avenue to the movies: In 2010, they created the 24-track score for the film, Tron: Legacy, creating a mood to match the gloom-and-doom world that exists inside a cutthroat video game, with “Recognizer” starting out as intensely ominous, then suddenly becoming one of the most hauntingly beautiful tracks:
On 2013’s electro-disco, Random Access Memories, it was filled with inspired collaborations, most notably with Pharrell Williams and Chic’s Nile Rodgers on “Get Lucky” and “Lose Yourself to Dance.” In 2014, the album won the GRAMMY for Album of the Year:
And finally, their work on the 2016 album, Starboy by The Weeknd, in particular on the synth-R&B title track, and on the sexy, soulful bop of a ballad, “I Feel It Coming.” The bass riff that rolls in before the second verse is something for which to wait:
Will there be more good things from Daft Punk in the future, that sound like the future? I feel that coming too.
Pop Playlist: Garbage: “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)”
A blend of rock and synth, with touches of mid-century pop, the 2001 song, “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)” by Garbage surely makes for an interesting listen. Although the band’s familiar, no-holds-barred rock-guitar riffs tear through, there are sweet-sounding production elements (handclaps; church bells) and Shirley Manson’s (girl-group) vocal delivery that allow the track to feel reminiscent of a bubble-gum song from the ‘60s… gone wild.
Not For Everyone: Madonna: “Paradise (Not for Me)”
In 2000, Madonna collaborated with the French producer, Mirwais Ahmadzaï to create her synth-country endeavor known as Music. Ahmadzaï’s contributions were admirable, yet more experimental than approachable, which could explain why there were only three singles off the album (the title track, “Music”; “Don’t Tell Me”; a non-Ahmadzaï track, “What It Feels Like For a Girl). Yet it’s “Paradise (Not For Me)” that serves as an example of the Ahmadzaï aura: ethereal, yet eerie; synthesized, yet orchestral. “Paradise” finds Madonna’s vocals intentionally drowsy, as she sluggishly labors over lyrics, as if on her (Evita) deathbed: “I can’t remember/when I was young/I can’t explain/if it was wrong/My life goes on/but not the same…” At just over 6 ½ minutes, this song of hindsight amid life’s finality unfortunately lingers, almost not knowing when to exit. Considering its haunting feel, that may be its intended goal.
Madonna did feature the song in her 2001 Drowned World Tour as the introduction to the Japanese-themed section, appearing in a short film as a geisha drawn toward a large celestial radiance: “There is a light/above my head/Into your eyes/my face remains.” Madonna, an Italian-American pop star, dressed in Japanese-geisha regalia, singing in French makes for a striking sight and sound. Above the stage, four semi-nude male dancers in powdery body makeup, their look inspired by Japanese Butoh performance artists, hang upside down in midair, wrapped in sheets like cocoons (gestation). They’re soon released from the cocoons (birth) and lowered down, free to walk upright (life). As this lead-in concludes, they open their mouths, and in a stunning effect, appear to glow or burn from within (death; cremation). Madonna’s geisha also experiences the same fate, emitting a red ray of light (sorry) from her mouth toward the audience, practically burning the macabre images into their (our) minds.
Madonna almost knew that “Paradise (Not for Me)” was not for everyone, yet she realized its artistic potential in a live capacity, aware that showcasing startling imagery could only make this eccentric track all the more powerful. The song was also featured on her Confessions tour, but as a breath-catching ballad with the vocalist, Isaac Sinwani. This adoption of a more traditional acoustic arrangement still allowed her to perform the Ahmadzaï experiment, yet via softer, friendlier means.