Dojokun – “Change”

Dojokun – “Change” – Single Review

All the way from Rome to our Canadian-based pages here!

I’m always interested in hearing what’s happening in other parts of the world when it comes to music – I don’t think that’ll ever get old for me.  It’s fascinating really.  You’ll notice how certain trends tend to sweep from one side of the map to the other.  You’ll learn which places in the world are ahead of the game.  You’ll discover others that are miles behind the rest of the scene, and/or locations that don’t even seem to be all that aware of what’s happening in any other area of the globe outside of their own.  You’ll probably even find a few other places, usually in Europe, that feel like they’ve found the sound they really want to hear, and they’ll lock onto it for years and years to follow without any deviation.  The musical map can reveal all kinds of unique aspects about how we consume the sound that’s being created out there in this world we share.  Stopping in to Rome here today for this glimpse into the music that Dojokun is creating – he’s playing the bass and acoustic guitar on this brand-new single “Change,” and joined by Emiliano Esposti (Electric Guitar), Alessandro Inolti (Drums), Andres Samboni (Keyboards), and Raccoonn Threeeyes (Vocals).  From what I understand, Dojokun is the sole songwriter, and the song itself is pretty much about highlighting the struggles of “dealing with the challenges of everyday life.”  So…unless you’ve somehow lived a charmed one yourself, you should be able to relate to this.

Lots of things stand out to me as I listen to this track.  The poetic lyricism is certainly the first element of “Change” that I noticed.  Then I probably latched onto the sound of Raccoonn’s voice.  Then I think it was probably the overall rhythm and groove of the music, before finally pushing past all the pieces that jumped out at me to dig even further into the finer details that are in the fabric of this song’s DNA.  As I went back through it spin after spin, I felt like “Change” was ultimately really well-written when it came to the bulk of the lyricism.  There might be a few words here & there I’d be tempted to “Change” myself, or that I felt like I’ve heard in some way, shape or form before – but like…credit where credit is due – listen to how vivid the imagery is as the song begins.  The words make an extremely positive impact right away and entice you in to listen – obviously that’s a good thing.  As for Raccoonn’s voice – I thought this dude was completely pitch-perfect and put in an excellent performance here.  At times, he’d remind me of Jason Wade from Lighthouse, and at others like the bridge around the 2:05 mark, Threeeyes would remind me a lot of Canada’s own Raine Maida as well.  Incidentally, circling back to the lyrics again, it was really only that same bridge where Threeeyes brilliantly shifted gears with his vocals that I also felt like the words he was singing weren’t as compelling as the rest of the song…but whatever…it was still good enough – all I’m saying is the rest of the lyricism surrounding the bridge in “Change” is better, to me.  Anyhow.  From there, you start to notice essential contributions like the rhythm of the bass from Dojokun, the backing vocals in this song and how perfectly they fit, the accents provided by the guitar from Esposti & keyboards of Samboni – there’s a lot of color & detail within the character of this song.

All-in-all…I don’t hear any reason as to why Dojokun shouldn’t be stoked about how this song came out and proud of the results.  The most I’ll concede to ya is that it’s pretty damn smooth for a song that’s about turmoil and such…but hey, no one out there says there are rules that say a sound has to match the concept 100% of the time.  The facts remain the same – Dojokun and his band of musical cohorts are playing remarkably tight and sound completely unified from start to finish on “Change.”  Personally, I think the hooks are strong & memorable, and the musicianship is certainly commendable as well – but even in enjoying all those aspects individually, it’s the sum of what they’ve created together that really speaks volumes on behalf of “Change” overall.  A multi-cultural crossover composition, you’ve got Dojokun, Emiliano, and Alessandro hailing from Italy, Andres from Mexico, and Threeeyes from Finland – I don’t know if they have the opportunity to play together all that much, but it sure sounds like it if we’re to judge from the seamless performance they’ve put into this collaborative effort on “Change.”  Chances are, what you’re hearing on this single is a crew filled with ace musicians ready to roll at a moment’s notice in any situation…and to hear them all together at the same time makes for quite a treat for the ears.  Apparently they were going for something more akin to the Blues-Rock vibes of The Doors with this single…and I’ll fully admit, that’s not really what I came away with here from my own perspective, but that by no means suggests they’ve missed the mark.  The best bands and artists out there all borrow their influence from somewhere, and they know how to both mask and “Change” it enough so that it’s their own sound we hear.  I can hear elements of pieces that would be inspired by The Doors for sure, but at the same time, I think the end product becomes much more of a hybrid sound that’s suited for the current state of the music-scene overall…and obviously, that’s a good thing.  No substantial complaints from me here – this is a quality tune clearly made by professionals built for you to enjoy.

Find out more about Dojokun by visiting his official page at Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076353549527

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