myqo – “scream”

myqo – “scream” – Single Review

I am gonna go ahead annnnnnnnnnnnnd…yes…I’m gonna give this track my official stamp of approval.

Because…well…for many reasons really, but there are parts of myqo’s “scream” that have proven to be genuinely irresistible to me, long before he even stepped into the spotlight…but we’ll get to that…

For real though, this is a quality tune from concept to execution, and I’m certainly looking forward to hearing more from myqo already, based on this one experience alone.  I’ll tell ya what I know to start – myqo is centered around the writing of Damon Koh, who is currently based in Singapore.  At the time of writing this review, there’s just one other single available at Spotify, called “The Prescription” – which I have also heard; it’s good, especially if you consider it to be myqo’s debut & all – but if we’re talking about which track gets me super excited about the future ahead, there’s no doubt whatsoever that it’s his new single, “scream.”  Let’s be real here though y’all…to have a breakthrough of any kind within the release of just a couple of tunes shows an exceptional level of promise…Damon should be proud of what he’s achieved with this new single of his.  Word on the street, and quite clearly indicated by the artwork, “scream” is indeed based on supposed backstory of artist Edvard Munch’s legendary painting, known as “The Scream.”

Annnnnnnd…I think that gets us all on the same page more or less – that’s really all I know.  Well…I mean…I know what I’ve read AND I know what I think about the song, so let’s get to that.

First off, there are a couple of inescapable comparisons to be made here.  If you listen to this song and you’re not hearing the similarities between “scream” and something like, say, the more upbeat moments of The Cure in the early parts of their career, or stuff like you’d find in the more modern-day compositions of The Strokes and how they put their music together, then you’re probably missing out on a whole boatload of awesome tunes that should definitely be on your playlists.  It’s never too late though folks…if you feel like that previous description applies to you, you can FIX your past behavior by adding “scream” to your daily soundtrack and start to heal your musical taste.  I feel like the comparison to The Cure is the easiest to glean out of this tune…just listen to the guitar solo around the 2:20 mark for example.  As for The Strokes, that’s probably a bit less clear…I suppose I’m making that comparison once again largely based on the type of energy that “scream” has, the way the guitars move, and having the vocals of singer Raphael Low placed just enough behind the rest of the music to provide that mysterious level of obscurity that becomes insanely addictive after just a couple of spins.  myqo seems to contain quite a few of my favorite traits in music when you’re listening for similarities, which sure makes this particular single very easy for me to love!

As if I needed MORE reasons to dig on “scream” – I still think there are plenty.  For instance, I really dig the way a song like this comes into existence to begin with…the idea that art inspires art is always something I love to find out there in the scene.  To think that Damon has put thought into “The Scream” and given us an interpretation of what Munch’s painting might have really been all about, is freakishly cool to me.  As somewhat of a wordsmith myself, of course I love the word-selection and uniqueness of Koh’s lyricism too – there are some remarkably vivid details in here, clever turns of phrase, and simply spectacular choices in terms of what he was able to do to get the words to stand out.  Personally, I’m fine with tracks that remind me of anything to do with Julian Casablancas and his approach to how vocals are recorded, whether it’s intentional or not.  With regards to “scream,” I don’t really feel like myqo was necessarily going for something that would remind us of The Strokes so much as it might just be a happy accident as a result of Low’s vocals following the pattern of the music’s melody.  By going along with it as tightly as he has, the effect is largely the same as turning the vocals down just a tad in comparison to the music – Raphael sinks right into the mix, and sure, that can make it a little harder for everyone to catch every single word.  But let’s face facts y’all…half of you are always singing along to your favorite songs without knowing half the words anyway.  Anyhow…I suppose the point is, I actually love the way this song is performed and the way it’s mixed – I think it’s extremely effective and equally enticing.  Will everyone agree with that?  Maybe, maybe not.  To me, where Koh is taking a more noticeable risk that ends up thankfully paying off is with the fluctuation in his metering.  Again, by choosing to adopt the melody that the music presents and pairing Low’s vocals so closely to that, Damon ends up really challenging Raphael in terms of how he has to sing this song, but you could argue that he’s made the job even tougher by having a more unpredictable design for the flow of his words.  Could he have made life easier for his bandmate by adding an extra syllable here and there, or by taking one or two away at times?  Yes.  Absolutely, yes.  Oddly though, I think that all of this stuff I’ve pointed out becomes a real part of myqo’s unique & irresistible charm.  Honestly, that’s why I ended up pushing play on “The Prescription” afterwards…I was like, is this the method and approach that Damon always takes to every tune?  Because that would be seriously tough to keep up to for any singer without becoming exhausted.  I can confirm that “scream” is different from his other single in that regard, and again, I can confirm that I definitely think every risk he’s taken here, from the artistic concept to the energetic performance, ended up really paying off for myqo.  “scream” stands out for all the right reasons…its poetic lyricism, its radiant Pop/Indie-Rock sound, its relentless combination of passion and confidence…I mean – it is RARE that you’ll hear a second single come out swinging for the fence like this one does, let alone the homerun that myqo goes on to hit straight outta the park.  I’d say I recognized that I was listening to something that had that intangible X-factor magic from the very first spin I took through “scream” – but by the time the second spin was over, I knew I was already mercilessly hooked on this song.  Damon has put together a riotously infectious, anthemic melody here…and combined with its professional quality that still somehow retains this Indie spirit and underdog essence, you’ll be cheering for myqo’s success.

Find out more about myqo from the official page at Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/myqoband

HEY YOU!  YES YOU!  You – the person reading this RIGHT NOW!  Instead of emailing us to find out how you could be the next up on our pages at sleepingbagstudios and waiting days for our response – just click here will ya!?!