About a month ago, we posted a glowing review of Quadron's latest pop-centric offering off Vested in Culture Records, Avalanche. We basically came to the conclusion that it might be the best collection of get-out-the-massage-oils and come-a-little-closer pop/R&B/soul jams I’ve heard in recent memory. But some people are still asking "who dare make me rekindle my love affair with pop music?"
Coco & Robin, Quadron |
Let’s simplify: Coco O. fronts the band with a voice that sounds like Adele or Amy Winehouse—but without Adele’s boner-killer melodramatics and Winehouse’s propensity to get too drunk and ruin everything. That’s the band’s biggest asset: Coco’s pipes, laid over hip-hop stutter-step beats and hooky melodies that range from laid-back groove to near-perfect pop composition. Yes, they're from Denmark, yes, they're soul/R&B and pop. Oh, and before I forget to mention it, Kendrick Lemar guests on the album on a track called "Better Off."
Robin Hannibal, who's in charge of instrumentation, said they owe their style, at least in part, to none other than Michael Jackson. The band cited the King of Pop as a guiding musical influence, especially during the recording of Avalanche. In an interview with Billboard.com, Coco and Hannibal said that they channeled Jackson’s inspiration during sessions at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, where Jackson recorded often and cut several songs for Bad. They even dubbed the sixth track on the album “Neverland.”
But it’s the first single, “Hey Love,” that’s most likely to bring the boys to yard. It’s the kind of track that you might hear from the DJ booth at a club with a ridiculous name like “Splash,” or “Rain,” or “Grift” or whatever, where girls wear their best get-fucked heels and guys pretend that they don’t live in their mother’s basements. It’s also the kind of track that you'd hear over the speakers at Forever XXI and think, “This song is so catchy! Why haven’t I heard it before? Who sings it? And since when did I start shopping at stores that sell only clothes that dead prostitutes are found in?”
I mean that as a high compliment—to Quadron. What I’m suggesting, or attempting to suggest, anyway, is that Quadron’s one-girl-one-guy dance-pop aesthetic appeals to different audiences—the teen-pop set, club goers, college kids, mollied-up dubsteppers, etc.—which might be enough for the band to build the buzz it needs to make its summer tour schedule a success. That’s the last piece of the puzzle for an outfit like Quadron: the live shows. If the band can pull off big, bombastic shows that get people talking, Epic might have something potent on its hands. They opened for Raphael Saadiq on his 2011 tour, so now it’s time for them to branch out and fly on their own.
Can they do it? Come by Summerstage at the Rumsey Playhouse in Central Park Saturday July 27th at 6:00pm to catch Quadron open a FREE show for Lianne La Havas. Get there early because something tells me its going to fill up fast. To get you psyched for the insane natural vocal talent of Coco, here is a special acoustic version of her single, Hey Love.
Quadron - Hey Love (Acoustic)
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