Seven Layer Piano Cakes ft VRL – Endgame (2022)
Across ‘Middlegame’ and ‘Remy’, Seven Layer Piano Cakes has shown us his amazing ability to defy genres while packing a serious emotional punch. This genre-defying style continues with ‘Endgame’ which brings a dreamy, yet intensely dark, sound to our ears. Teaming up with emerging artist VRL, this duet tells the story of the end and aftermath of a long-term relationship.
Seamlessly weaving dream-pop into dark-pop and synthwave sensibilities, the two artists create complex harmonies that cover two octaves. While a chill single, there is something intense resting beneath the surface that makes you want to turn the volume up. Drawing on his classical piano and vocal training, Seven Layer Piano Cakes stays true to his moniker, as he builds layers of sound topped with the harmonic blend of vocals.
‘Endgame’ uses a really intense vibe to grab your attention as the melody builds tension and pressure. This intense vibe is contrasted by a lighter high tone that brings the feeling of softening. As you hit the chorus, the dark intensity of the opening turns into a layered sound that plays intense darkness against a dreamy tone. While the higher layers of the melody are dreamier, they also carry a greyness to them that threatens to turn into full darkness. The weaving of dark and dream pop is amazing and inundates your senses in the best possible way. As you listen, you can’t help but be sucked into the intensity of the music.
While the melody creates the contrasts of the single and takes listeners on a genre-defying journey, it is the vocals that really bring the punch of the track. Seven Layer Piano Cakes’ vocals are the first to enter and sink its hooks into you. His performance pulls you into the relationship of the track that is coming to an end. VRL’s vocals enter as the chorus starts to hit, creating the feeling of two sides of a relationship. The blending of their vocals lets you know that both sides know that the relationship is coming to an end, without any way to reconcile. Her vocals take over the second verse which furthers the story of the track. While the melody has its own intensity, the merger of the vocals brings everything to a different level.
Seven Layer Piano Cakes and VRL combine their talents in the dark, dreamy and intense story of relationship breakdowns that is ‘Endgame’. The music starts the intense ride with a building of tension that meets a lighter overtone. The vocals are interchanged over the verses, but rise together in beautiful harmony for the chorus.
Find out more about Seven Layer Piano Cakes on his Instagram and Spotify.
