Montreal-based French duo Haute present menacing synth-pop track "Holdin' Me Back"
It's always a pleasure to hear a singer take complete command of the melodies in a song. Haute's Anna Magidson does just that on "Holdin' Me Back", allowing her vocals to steer their own course through the song's creeping electronics.
"Holdin' Me Back" provides a steady base of squelching synths for Magidson's playful voice, which flirts with discordance in the verses yet at the chorus boats perfect vocal running. The trickling high-hat and gently ascending/descending synth lines that sit beneath Magidson's chatty vocal brings something of Metronomy's "Everything Goes My Way" to mind; a kind of odd-pop that's charming in the way it fails to fit a particular mould. It's weirdly wonderful writing.
Appearing on Haute's Reciprocity EP, released 23 October, stream "Holdin' Me Back" as today's Song Of The Day. It's also a free download.
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