Tag: Elley Duhé

Griffin, Elley Duhé – Tie Me Down

“I love what they’re doing with the instrumentation.”

Tim: Elley is currently primarily for her collaboration with Zedd, but here’s her most recent one; we found the former slightly anti-climactic, but how will this compare?

Tim: Oh, it’s much better.

Tom: And much more generic! But you’re right, it’s not a huge disappointment.

…as ever, that sounded less harsh in my head.

Tim: Partly because it doesn’t drop out at all, but also because (and this isn’t something I say often about dance music) I love what they’re doing with the instrumentation. I first noticed it at the end of the first chorus, but the layered melodies in the background are just lovely, as are the synths they’re played on.

Tom: Whereas I’m finding the mix confusing and a bit difficult to listen to. Yes, the instrumentation’s good, but the track just sounds a bit muddy and overcompressed. But hey, at least I can remember the chorus.

Tim: So sure, this has got a beat, a melody, and standard lyrics, and that’s all you really need for a dance track – but it’s also got a lot more, which I love.

Zedd, Elley Duhé – Happy Now

“Plinky xylophone not-quite-tropical synths.”

Tom: This song’s been around for ages, but they’ve just released a new video, so that’s good enough for me to feature it here. Yesterday we talked about a song that didn’t reach its full potential, and I think this is the same — but I’m worried that, both here and yesterday, “full potential” just means “not enough bass”.

Tom: Because that vocal chorus is so incredibly good, even down the 80s-style synth vocoder. And then just as you’re preparing for a big chorus, you get… plinky xylophone not-quite-tropical synths. It’s like a kid’s toybox suddenly got a “half-arsed remix” button.

Tim: I know exactly what you mean, and you’re not wrong – that did seem like a sudden anti-climax. On the other hand, it’s there as a style, and people like it a lot.

Tom: I know, this is what Zedd does sometimes, and I know, this song is astonishingly popular. But you know what? I think it needs to be more like Hourglass, which is still my favourite track off Clarity.

Tim: ‘Needs’ is a strong word there, even though I agree with the sentiment. It’s fine as it is – though I too would like more.

Tom: Maybe it didn’t reach its full potential. Or maybe I just like different things.

Tim: Crazy, this subjectivity thing, isn’t it?