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The world is an ever-evolving place. The pace at which technology updates and transforms every aspect of our lives can be mind-boggling, and it is every aspect of our life. And if the way we meet people and instigate relationships has changed, so have songs about dating, as Rachael Blanche’s latest song, “Translator,” deftly proves.
It’s a song about the early stages of a relationship, those days and weeks when you are still working out the rules and boundaries of a potential relationship but when you might not yet be on the same page. This is when you need the titular “Translator” to determine what the various communications between you mean.
R&B seems to be having a renaissance in recent years, a perfect storm of soulful traditions, poised-pop attitudes, rootsy grooves, and easy addictiveness. And that is everything that “Translator” is. But it is also deftly cut and wonderfully spacious so much so that the instrumentation proceeds to breathe, percolate and mature like fine sonic wine.
And at the front of it all, riding a wave of ebbing and flowing sonics, gently spiraling riffs and chiming musical motifs, popping and pulsing bass lines, is Rachael Blanche’s sensuous and sensational voice.
There is no shortage of R&B in the world today, but rarely is it delivered this perfectly.
Translator is out on 28th April
