Smotherly Love – Two Flights Up (2021)
Smotherly Love intrigued us with the shimmering and delicate balance between confidence and arrogance in ‘Less Shoulders, More Coping’. The hazy psychedelic fog that drenched the single and his last EP have been picked up again for ‘Two Flights Up’. While carrying the haziness of his sound, vocals provided by Laura Shaw (Kid Cupid) bring a sharper focus to the track while adding a splash of pop sensibilities.
Creating a lush psychedelic pop sound, the single leans on more traditional structures to create a wonderful new sound while keeping that which make Smotherly Love so addictive. It is an interesting next step for the one-man band that reaches out with his musicality to achieve new heights. With a subtle nod to the likes of Ponds and Tame Impala, the single will have you falling under his psychedelic spell all over again.
‘Two Flights Up’ calls out to you with a wavering tone through the opening of the track. This gives way to a moving melody that plucks and rolls through your senses. There is a softness to the music that has you floating on the clouds of sound. While you can feel the edge of psychedelia floating in the corner of your eye, there is a greater feeling of dream-pop to the track. The guitars roll with a slightly retro vibe while the hazy electronic soften the soundscape. The musical elements come together for a really lush arrangement that invites you to close your eyes and sink into it.
As you feel the wash of the melody across your skin, the vocals bring an interesting interplay of hazy and focused. Smotherly Love’s vocals are as hazy as always as they pull you into the cottonwool softness of his performance. Shaw’s vocals bring a new edge to the track as she seems to ground the airy performance. Her backing vocals sharpen the vocal lines before they mist away on the breeze. It is a really amazing combination of sensibilities that fog your view while also bringing it into sharp relief. As the single progresses, the vocal lines swirl together and dance across your senses in the best possible way.
Smotherly Love and Laura Shaw bring a hazy softness to sharp focus as they meld their sounds and pull you into the soft fog of ‘Two Flights Up’. The music brings the haziness he has become known for while Shaw’s vocal line adds a sharper pop edge. The two lines come together beautifully to fill you with softness and makes you want to sink into the music.
Find out more about Smotherly Love on his Instagram and Spotify.
