Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
A lot of acts spend the better part of their early careers searching for an identity, a signature sound, and even a jumping-off point from which to launch a narrative unto their audience, but this isn’t a problem plaguing RM47. “Strangers,” their inviting and fun new single and music video, is set off by a swagger more common among the mainstream than it is in the underground, and their utilization of both simplistic and elegant compositional themes creates a meditative sound just about anybody who digs alternative R&B is going to connect with. These two don’t need help finding themselves; from what I can tell, they’re one of them or acerbic acts in their class.
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The lack of a big bassline or a meandering hook in “Strangers” cuts out the need for ornate, lyric-powered grooves that we’ve heard in the club and the FM dial quite a bit in the last few years, and I like how boisterous RM47 is in their refutation of such trivial elements. There’s nothing wrong with using familiar details as a way of making a track more accessible, but these two don’t have to do that in this song – they can balance a monastic bottom-end with brassy lead vocals, eliminating space for unimportant bells and whistles altogether.
It’s still a little early to tell what RM47 is going to do with their potential, but if there’s anything we can take away from “Strangers” it’s that they’re not chasing a creative narrative that has been championed by other artists in recent years. This is their path and their path alone, and with the austere attitude they’re employing for this performance I think they’re showing us that they want to do what their contemporaries are simply too scared to try. Their brazen direction deserves applause, especially from those in the modern-day (and less-than-erudite) R&B establishment.
Jordan Raab
