The Ruben – “We Used To Dance”
The Ruben – “We Used To Dance” – Single Review
Alrighty…so…let’s see what we’ve got here with The Ruben in review today.
You might even remember this guy – he appeared on our pages back at the end of 2022 with a couple of songs we reviewed called “Going Crazy” and “Tonight (Hey You, Me)” under his full name, Ruben Simonsen. He’s changing things up and going by The Ruben now, which I think is a good move – I like the way that it sounds, you know? When you’re THIS Ruben, they call you THE Ruben – I dig that.
Anyhow. He’s read that previous review on his music just like many of you have, and he knows the only responsibility I’ve ever got here on these pages of ours is to call things like I hear’em. There are things about “We Used To Dance” that work really well and others that could use a bit of work…a combination of results that tells my gut that The Ruben still has a ways to go before he’s the artist he truly wants to be. On the extremely positive side of the scenario, I know that making music is what he WANTS to do – and with the kind of desire and passion he has for the craft, he’ll get to the level of success he’s looking to achieve, it’s only a matter of time. You can hear in the hooks of a song like “We Used To Dance” that he knows what connects and would excite listeners, but it’s his potential for the future that speaks even louder than what we hear on this particular single. I like what I hear & what he’s put out with his music so far for the most part, but I also know there’s more to The Ruben than what you’ll find on “We Used To Dance.”
So…lemme see what I can tell ya. I don’t know that the verses pop out quite enough for his style of Pop-inspired music if I’m being truthful with him – I think there is plenty of opportunity for him to enhance the entire vibe even further and raise the level of spark we need to hear on this side of the speakers. The melodic design is fine…I think even though he’s gone with a whispered approach, he’s still showing the potential of the idea in the way he sings the verses of “We Used To Dance.” Lyrically…again, there is some definite work to be done, though there are notable bright spots in his writing as well. “We Used To Dance” is both a love-song and a commentary on the endless turmoil that the world has currently been tangled in. Thematically and conceptually, I’ve got no real issues with that. Would it serve The Ruben better to focus in on one idea at a time, especially when you consider how far apart a love-song and the struggle for sanity we’re facing in the world right now would be? Sure. I think that’s fair to say. I don’t really know that those two ideas are as directly related as he might feel like they are, but I do know there would definitely be a pairing of concepts that could certainly belong together more than a love-song and “how the world has become lately, with wars and much violence” – you follow me? Keep in mind, The Ruben is coming to our Canadian-based pages all the way from Tromsø in Norway – so there is bound to be a few things that get a little lost in translation. Trust me, if I was to write something in Norwegian, I’m sure it would be a complete disaster, so The Ruben’s doin’ pretty well with his English. That being said, do I think lines like “we used to dance, hearts in sync – now you’re standing on the kitchen sink” are saying what he really wants to say? Honestly, no. Even if that’s exactly what he was going for, that’s a line that feels like it comes out really strong in the first half, and not as thought-out in the second half…like…there could have been a million other things he said there that would have been able to communicate what he was looking to say more effectively than “standing on the kitchen sink” in my opinion. It’s very possible that’s a line that refers to something that actually happened in his life, and there’s never anything wrong with writing from experience – but keep in mind, we’d never know that on the listening end of this scenario. To our ears, that’s just a bizarre line that exists to complete the rhyme-scheme…which is where things can quickly become dicey and insincere in the art of lyricism.
I think we feel that a bit in the way that the vocal melody gets a bit choppy in the chorus as well with each rhyming word too – BUT – I’d be the first to tell ya that it’s memorable, and that the main hook works. That’s the real strength of “We Used To Dance” – The Ruben gets a lot of mileage out of the chorus in this tune, and could quite possibly pull anyone that was on the fence onboard with what he’s done in that part of the song. I do think that production-wise and musically, he’s got SO MUCH room still to fill in the song with the kind of details that would generate the kind of excitement you need to go along with the ideas you find in the main hook of the chorus for “We Used To Dance,” but even as it stands now, it’s still effective enough. The question for The Ruben is really whether or not he wants a song of his to be described as ‘enough’ or if he’s really looking to push his music to the next level, you know what I mean? If it’s a case of the latter, then he’s still got plenty of opportunity to enhance what he’s creating by adding in more detail through his performance and production to get the most out of his ideas. When it comes to “We Used To Dance,” it’s worth it…there’s lots of potential for this song, but I feel like for the genre he’s in, there’s gotta be a whole lot more color and vibrancy for it to stand out in the way that it should if he wants to compete with all the attention-grabbing material out there.
The Ruben’s got a good start here…I think he needs to push himself to bring out that inspired spark we wanna hear from him creatively, but I feel like he’s definitely got the ability & talent required to do that.
Find out more about The Ruben at his official page at Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/music.rubens
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