Tim: Charlie Who? indeed, as I can find out next to nothing about this guy online. Actually, that’s not quite true: I can find out absolutely nothing about him.
Tom: I took that as a challenge, and found much the same.
Tim: Well let’s have a listen anyway, and see what we think.
Tim: First thing first, that’s a lovely lyric video – I don’t have a top ten list, but that’d probably make it. The main stuff, though: hmm. I think I like it, but I’m really not entirely sure why. There are a lot of tropes there that fit with music I’d normally throw aside, such as the heavily featured distorted vocal and that main synth style in the post chorus, and yet somehow it works.
Tom: I agree with you that it works, but I’m not convinced that I like it. I get that it’s the Done Thing Now to have two separate hooks, one vocal and one that’s basically just someone whacking buttons on a MIDI keyboard to distort a sample, but I’m not convinced that it’s actually making decent tracks.
Tim: It’s certainly not a perfect formula on its own, but I think here I’m mostly intrigued because it stands out a bit. Despite, like I said, lots of familiar components, it somehow manages not to sound like anyone else, and that’s always worth celebrating.
Tom: That’s fair: perhaps the reason I’m questioning it is just that it’s unfamiliar. We hated dubstep way back when Tim, and now… well, now we hate it again, but there was a brief period where it was fun. As for this…
Tim: Personally, I’d like to hear another track or two before I give it my unreserved blessing, but for now at least, I’m intrigued.