Pacific – Alibi (2021)
It seems that recently there haven’t been that many artists going for that piano-driven, melodic pop/rock sound. The sound championed by Coldplay since the beginning of the new century, even though that sound has seemingly not lost much of its popularity with the audience. But, then, here comes Manchester quartet Pacific with a series of singles championing exactly that sound and ‘Alibi,’ a part of this series, is probably exactly what the doctor ordered for the fans of this sound.
For those already familiar with their previous single, ‘Puzzle,’ it should not be a surprise. ‘Puzzle’ received huge backing by Manchester United football club adding the track to their FA Cup 5th round pre-match stadium playlist, televised live on BBC 1. This promptly brought along endorsements from Apple Music, BBC Radio 1, METRO and Y Not Festival. That brought along the fact that Pacific’s previous singles’ streaming success has seen songs amass over 200k streams on Spotify and have been playlisted across retail stores throughout the UK. As could have been expected, this brought in huge expectations for the now released ‘Alibi.’ To make sure that they met the expectations, Pacific enlisted Kaiser Chief producer David Watts to record the number and give it a wide, almost cinematic feel.
Going for such a larger-than-life feel can be a double-edged sword. Everything has to work almost to perfection. The melody has to be as memorable as possible, vocals and harmonies have to be pitch-perfect and if you want the piano to be the driving musical force, it has to lead the song without completely dominating it. Luckily, with the help of Watts’ production, Pacific jumps over all the possible hurdles. This will certainly help them strengthen their football connection even further as their music is used consistently by Salford City FC in their social media video material, as well as Brentford FC and Manchester City.
But Pacific’s ‘Alibi’ is not just for football fans. It is that kind of big-sounding melodic pop/rock that should appeal to a much wider audience – the one that simply cannot wait for the next Coldplay release. One of our best songs this year, Pacific shows they are on an open road to wider success.
For more from Pacific check out their official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
