Sonically, the new one from Fanny Alexandra feels timeless. As the song breezes in on a Latin lilt, island vibes shot through with blues licks, slow-dance beats and sensual sonics, it feels as if it, or at least a song much like it, could have existed any time since the dawn of rock and roll. And I don’t say that because you have heard it all before, but because ‘Black Pearl Summer’ is built on classic lines, emotive moves, and subtle, seductive grooves.
But the tale that the song carries is not only timeless but somehow also timely. Exploring pressure, grief and survival, the central image is a black pearl- something beautiful changed due to the forces playing out on it, altered but no less exquisite. Now, the more enlightened times we live in mean that more people are looking at their own inner selves, assessing their moods and mental health, being more analytical, critical even of their own thoughts and emotions. This, therefore, feels like a song that could have only been written in recent times.
It’s a great song, one that wanders from classic, resonant riffs and spacious groove to vocal anthems as the tale of the girl built of “all sharp edges and salt water” (what a great line) is laid out through coastal imagery and pelagic grace; the song, like its protagonist, is a complex swirl of ebbs and flows, hidden depths and emotional rip tides.
Understated and overwhelming, beautiful and broken. What a great song, what fantastic imagery, what an artist to watch.
