If you thought Lincoln Jesser was a long-shot for the kind of stadium-filling popularity that most artists never get to enjoy, think again. Granted, he's still got a long road ahead of him, but if there ever was an artist that was going to get famous off of revamped '80s pop, it's this guy. At first glance, one might think Lincoln has made a mistake by doubling down on synths and catchy hooks, but listen closer, because there's a lot more than what's apparent on the surface. Yes, the vast majority of Lincoln's sound stems from electronic instrumentation, and yes, it's mostly been repurposed as pop music, but there's something else going on that makes you wonder how he does it so well. It's the little quirks here and there that make the music unique and just strange enough to jar your ears out of that apathy-riddled stupor that so many Top 40 offerings lull them into, and so to fully understand what's going on here, listen to his track, "Don't Mind". It's definitely the most overt example of his style, and the perfect way to pick up his approach. When "Don't Mind" transitions away from the intro and into the drop, the smooth keyboard work is swapped out for a very rudimentary set of overly crunchy synth chords, and the shift in texture will make you cringe, grit your teeth, and grin from ear-to-ear all at the same time. Objectively, it's not a particularly sophisticated way to go about making music, but it's actually quite genius, and all of his work takes this approach on some level or another. Despite its more subtle composition, though, "Untold" embodies a lot of this same clever audio wizardry, and what was once simply an '80's pop tribute is actually, upon closer inspection, a powerhouse alt-pop single. The bassline is simple but effective, and the bounce it gives to the lower end of the song is the perfect way to ensure that anybody at a Lincoln Jesser concert is going to have a hard time standing still. Lincoln's maneuvering, too, through a series of deftly crafted builds and drops give the song an almost deep house flavor, and, seeing how the genre has become one of the most popular these days, it's going to be no surprise the success this song sees. Whether that similarity was serendipitous, or simply just well calculated, the quality exists in spades, and the track is yet another golden offering from this soon-to-be household name. "Untold" will be featured on Lincoln's debut album, Modern Colour, that's due out September 23rd. You can pre-order it on iTunes now.
Lincoln Jesser