Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Pop music is getting harder for critics to pigeonhole these days, and while the genre still holds some water to those who simply want something melodic to dance or just relate to, indie artists like Jen Fodor are redefining what the style can, and should, sound like in this new age. Fodor’s latest single, “Love Struck Baby” is an exercise in experimentation that steers away from popular trends while staying as true blue to the rich harmonies of contemporary pop as it can, and for what I look for in a sweet jam, it’s about as good as it gets in this market.
I think it’s pretty obvious in this single that tonality means everything to Jen Fodor, and I think that her dedication to making authentic melodies is something that a lot of her closest rivals on the major label side of the industry could stand to learn a lot from in 2022.
She isn’t just concerned with making a track that stings cosmetically here; she wants us to feel something in the lyrical narrative that she sews into the groove, and whether it be through the harmonies or the churn of the drums, she’s going to stoke a reaction out of us in “Love Struck Baby” no matter what she has to do.
Everything in “Love Struck Baby” is structured to complement our star’s crooning, but as I previously noted, the very idea of excessiveness in the big picture here is dismissed right from the jump through an efficient construction of the hook that precludes every important juncture in the track. Coming into this review of the new Jen Fodor song, I had some serious expectations, but I’m happy to say that she outdid herself in this most recent trip to the recording studio. Fodor is intent on raising the bar for both herself and the generation of pop musicians she’s looking to reign over in the underground hierarchy in “Love Struck Baby,” and that alone should make it required listening at the moment.
Sabrina Wyrick
