Granular Injections – “Closer” Feat. Damien Q & David Downing
Granular Injections – “Closer” Feat. Damien Q & David Downing – Single Review
This whole collaborative crew has been pushin’ real hard over these past couple years eh? It’s been awesome to witness…truly…every time Granular Injections, Damien Q, and David Downing show up, they have proven in a variety of ways that they’ve always got something uniquely creative in the mix. “Closer” is definitely no exception to that rule – it’s another well-crafted single that delves into the hybrid realm that bridges the gap between art & music, and quite often blurs the line between’em too.
They ain’t exactly ‘normal’ is what I’m sayin’ – ya feel me?
“Closer” is a pretty stellar track all-around when it comes right down to it. The beat provides a steady backbone to rely on, the verses provided by Damien Q have a spectacularly sleek & fluid design, the cello from David Downing is beyond essential to the atmospheric vibes, and Granular Injections loads this up with uniqueness in the air around ya, while also taking on the main hooks of the chorus as well. The most you’re gonna find me conceding here is the first questionable line of the bridge around the 1:20 mark…but even when it came to that, I was pretty convinced that the way Damien Q locked down the melody securely by the end of it, that this whole part of the song needed both halves to make that moment come alive. Other than that though, there wasn’t anything else I felt didn’t hit the mark 100% spot-on or warrant any kind of critical scrutiny. This whole single has a deep & dank, stylistic vibe to it that reminds me a lot of how I feel when I listen to a track like “You Don’t Wanna” by Tricky from his Blowback record…that steady beat is a real charmer if you know how to put the right pieces around it, and Granular Injections has got this laced up tight to deliver an experience with wild dimensional depth.
It is HARD to say who really steals the show here, if not outright impossible, if you ask me. Every time this track would spin around again on repeat over here, I’d start out loving the slick swagger of Damien Q’s verses…then moments later I’d be singing along with the hooks of the chorus from Granular Injections and noddin’ my head to the beat…and by the end, every single time I listened to this track, I was absolutely blown away by how remarkable the musicianship of David Downing genuinely IS, and at all of the times. The more these dudes continue to work together, the stronger the results have been getting, and “Closer” is audible proof of that to be the truth! “It’s like a magnet, we vibrate with it” – I couldn’t have put it any better myself Damien Q! Alright…it’s fair to say that he probably wasn’t singing about the song itself, but when you listen to it and you find yourself naturally addicted to this vibe, you’ll find that lyric certainly applies to how you’ll feel about what you hear & the strength of the gravitational pull it comes with. I should probably back right up to the start though – because whatever Granular Injections is doing at the very beginning of this track in the intro before the main beat even has a chance to kick-in, is brilliant. It’s like a broken-transmission of digital awesomeness subtly being beamed out into the universe…and of course, as I’ve already indicated here, this cut simply goes on to get stronger & stronger from there…getting “closer to you” inch by inch, until this stunningly dark melody is crawlin’ all over your skin.
It’s creepy, it’s eerie, it’s haunting & mysterious as well – but make no mistake, you’ll find a supreme dose of undeniable beauty added in through the cello solo and Downing’s exquisite instrumentation. The mix is stellar, the production is tight…the ideas, as always with this collaborative crew, are completely there and demonstrate their innate ability to morph melodies to suit their wildest concepts. “Closer” is an extremely well balanced single all said & done…I’m leaning just slightly towards Downing’s cello as being the real feature highlight of all highlights here, but that’s just the thing – we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to this cut…there’s nothing else BUT highlight after highlight to be enjoyed here. So I might feel that way today…maybe it IS David providing the immaculate allure in this deadly vibe goin’ on with “Closer” – maybe you feel the same way! And maybe, just maybe, we’ll all feel like it’s Damien Q that stood out most tomorrow, and Granular Injections the very next day; it could very well be like that and in any order, full-circle, over & over, until we recognize & realize it’s every bit as complete as I’ve claimed, and a highlight collaboration from start to finish. These guys keep putting their creative chops on display in ways that get noticed, & each time Granular Injections calls up his homies to make some music, they’re clearly ready to deliver.
Listen to more music by Granular Injections at the official page at Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3YA0Chnxki0WrJk4xENj5C
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