R.M. Hendrix – Magazines (2022)
R.M. Hendrix has filled us with some empowering good vibes through his singles ‘Morning Complaints’ and ‘Summer Dresses’. With his single ‘Magazines’, he is turning away from personal emotions and turning to the ephemeral nature of digital celebrities. This sonic collage is a musical novel in a world of short soundbites that dips through waves of indie-rock, ambient tones and electronica.
A delightful follow-up to his last experimental pop album, he balances the world of digital celebrities and literary lenses. Packed with emotion, he pulls listeners on a journey through anger, despair and resolution while keeping you enthralled by his musical prowess. A single that is unlike anything else out there right now, it is a capturing of the intangible fickle nature of social media.
‘Magazines’ grabs your hand and leads you through a warping doorway into a choral-style arrangement. This choral tone is met by a deep trip-hop beat that thumps against the back of your brain. From the depths of these beats, a really funky rock line rises. There is a lot going on in the melody that creates a rich tapestry of sound. The piano line is a dark waltz that keeps a steady melody against the thrust of the beats. There is the lightest touch of gothic tones that swirls into an intense mixture of rock, trip-hop and electronic tones. You can feel a dark undertone grasping at you with spindly fingers only for a flash of coloured light to blind you as it flashes across your eyes before leaving you in the darkness. The music takes a turn halfway through the track for a shaking groovy movement.
While the melody takes you on an intense sonic journey, the vocals are an anchor in the storm of music. His voice explores the digital world and the fickle nature of online celebrities through relatable yet symbolic lyrics. Through his performance, he creeps through feelings of yearning for online fame, the struggle to achieve this and the intense wash of emotion that comes once it is achieved. When the music turns halfway through the track, his vocals swing to match getting slightly frantic energy to it. There is something resting in his performance at this point that causes a slightly panicked feeling in your chest that really shakes you up.
R.M. Hendrix captures the intangible nature of digital fame through the epic and constantly shifting soundscape of ‘Magazines’. The melody has a lot going on as it moves from choral arrangements to electronic rock grooves and everything in between. Providing an anchor against the intense waves of sound are Hendrix’s vocals that further the epic journey of the track.
Find out more about R.M. Hendrix on his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
