Roger K – “Fruit Salad”

Roger K – “Fruit Salad” – Single Review

Every so often as a music critic, you get put in this odd situation where you have to get serious about Pop.  It’s not that the genre itself shouldn’t be taken as seriously as the rest are, but generally speaking, it’s usually on the lighter side of themes and such, and examining it too closely can feel like you’re doing something that practically none of the listening ears tuning in would even do.  Case in-point, “Fruit Salad” by Roger K…the dude’s clearly just looking to create a song to supply some good times through your speakers, you know what I mean?  Picking it apart any further than that feels a bit counterintuitive.

Alas, that’s what we do here…and I don’t take time off from being objective in what I listen to.  I read the lyrics to this song before I even pushed play, and it seemed like Roger’s version of “Fruit Salad” was to combine just about everything under the sun into the same bowl.  Then I clicked play and realized that the sound reflected that same sentiment…there’s a whole lot going on here and very little room for even one more ingredient, if any at all.  In fact, I’d probably tell you that Roger could use more space in the mix here when it comes right down to it – I love the core concept and the ideas all throughout this song, but it does come out a lil’ on the busy side whether you’re judging the performance or production.

When you’ve got everything added into the mix, be it a “Fruit Salad” or creating a song, you can risk the whole thing ending up with the same flavor, you know what I mean?  It’s harder to identify the individual pieces that would make it great – make sense?  It can still be mighty tasty of course, but we still kind of want to know what it is that we’re consuming too.  From my perspective, Roger’s excelling when it comes to the overall idea here, and even the overall sound too…it’s got that Bruno Mars kind of style & excited Pop/Funk combo working well in its favor, and I’d fully bet on people responding to it pretty positively when it comes right down to it.  I like that he clearly had a core concept & leaned right into it with all his fruit-based lyricism…most folks would call that clever and thoughtful really.  Sure, in the grand-scheme of things, you wouldn’t be able to argue that a song like “Fruit Salad” is the kind of song written to change the world, but not every song has to be aiming for that either.  Look at it this way – in the realm of upbeat Pop-based tunes, perhaps your role isn’t ever going to be changing the world through the power of song…but perhaps instead, maybe your role is to change the moment that we’re in.  Specifically, maybe you weren’t having the greatest of days…and you somehow stumbled onto “Fruit Salad” and decided to give it a click – I feel like it’s totally fair to say you’d probably be in a much better mood after having listened to it.  It’s meant to be fun, and that’s the spirit it has from start to finish.  We don’t need our Pop tunes to shape the entirety of musical culture in a single dose, but it is comforting to know that when we need a song like “Fruit Salad” to brighten our day, that songs like this one exist to do exactly that.  So again, as I said from the very start, it’s not always about getting too far under the hood to examine things up closely, so much as it is about getting the general vibe of what a song like this is looking to communicate to us & how it chooses to go about it.  Right from the very first attention-grabbing “HEY!” in the song, “Fruit Salad” has such a colorful array of sound quickly coming at you that it’s not the kind of track that anyone could ever ignore, and of course there’s a ton of value in something like that.  It’s obviously ideal when everything snaps together like we’d want it to, but as a music critic with over half his lifetime spent immersed in listening & writing about tunes from all over the world, I fully recognize that not everyone has the access to the world’s best equipment, and that artists & bands all come from different levels of skillsets & such.  To me, it’s always been more important that we get a good look at the core ideas at the heart of it all…everything else is usually just the kind of technical stuff that naturally improves with time & experience.  “Fruit Salad” is a great example of a song that could really go on to do something special, even if it might be revealing an early version of what it offers now.

So…sure…do I want a little bit more clarity in the mix and separation in the instrumentation so that we have a better chance of appreciating all that’s involved with Roger K’s “Fruit Salad” – of course!  But it’s not too far off where it needs to go in that regard, we’re just talking about refinements from this point.  Like the ‘answer’ part to the call & answer design of the main hooks for example…”drop it down to the ground baby” – that part – having it come out that much cleaner would go a very long way, I assure you.  When a hook is as strong as that one is, it’s practically your duty to get the maximum potential out of it, you feel me?  As for Roger’s performance vocally, I think there’s still some room to grow in that aspect too.  Dude’s straight up magnificent in the main hooks and he’s obviously got an amazing voice – so yes, additional clarity in the mix will also be a big benefit to him in that regard as well, but I’d also look at how the spectacular energy of the chorus compares what sounds like it’s a little less focused in the verses.  One commands our listening attention, and the other not as much…and finding that sweet spot in the middle where you can get your best on the mic whether you’re in the most up-tempo or low key moments is fairly imperative when it comes to long term success and competing with all the songs that are out there and available for people to listen to with what precious time they have to spend listening.  Like…LISTEN to how damn good he is in the backing vocals for example…the dude can sing lights out when he’s at his very best, and that’s the personality we need to hear in every ounce of “Fruit Salad,” not just in the main hooks.  K’s got a good song here at the moment, but I feel like it’s still got more potential to become a great one.  He’s got the fundamentals down pat, now it’s all about refinement.

Find more music by Roger K at Spotify here:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/41hkPBRM1scZzY6JEcoLxT

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