Tougher one for me…Reggae and I have never really gotten along despite its ever-friendly intentions. That being said, I can tell when an artist or band is getting it ‘right’ in any genre, even the ones outside of my own personal taste. I’m not claiming to have any superhuman powers – you can do the exact same thing…our ears don’t deceive us; we know when something sounds combined into a perfect melody, rhythm or overall-harmony. And on that note – I’d expect you’ll enjoy this track from Nesbeth as much as I did; because you see, when you do truly get it ‘right’ – you can move mountains with your music and pull-in people outside of the genre into your art as genuine fans.
Share “My Dream” via Soundcloud here:
https://soundcloud.com/nesbeth-greg/my-dream-main-mix
I think Nesbeth stands a solid chance on all of this…I think the new-single “My Dream” is powerful enough in its flawless-execution, production, performance and hooks in the writing that it’ll take a strong-will to deny this track from play on your list. Even for myself…after getting over the initial shock/panic of reviewing a genre of which I know about as limited-much as I’ve learned from Steel Pulse, K-Bass or Bob Marley…it didn’t take more than a few repeats of “My Dream” to really become kind of like…hmm…all-out hooked on this island-style rhythm? That’s probably a great way to explain it…I really can’t seem to turn it off or find a reason why I’d want to!
I also suppose if I was left completely to my own devices as well, that my ears would have told me to call this Afro-Pop…but whether you consider it that, or world-music, or reggae…whatever you call it won’t matter to your ears, they’ll still tell you they like what they’re hearing. Nesbeth has an extremely warm and friendly vibe to the tone of his voice and delivers flawlessly as he rolls through impressively-written verses that keep the words coming at a steady-flow and solid rhythm & groove. The backup vocals are as bright and shiny as the music itself, you almost don’t realize they’re voices at first – they sound like music! Truly adding to the melody and filling in the emphasis in all the right spots, those backing vocals keep the sparkle & shine on “My Dream” while Nesbeth confidently and coolly takes the lead.
Overall…I’m actually mightily impressed. It takes a strong song to breakthrough that wall I’ve got up that tends to keep Reggae music out – and Nesbeth has burst through that wall this morning like the Kool-Aid Man himself. It’s really everything about it…I noticed that as I went to begin summing-up what it was I was digging about this new-single from Nesbeth. I was going to cite the writing as the standout…then I decided I couldn’t do that without mentioning the strength in the production…and then realized I couldn’t say ANY of this without mentioning how strong the actual performances are!
So what’s a reviewer to do? I know it seems like a cop-out to simply claim to like ‘everything’ about a song, but I honestly feel that way towards “My Dream.” I can fully admit it caught me off-guard…there’s no shame in that, we all like what we like…and truly, there’s nothing I actually like better than being surprised by music. Nesbeth has put in a perfectly smooth effort and made a completely wonderful track with “My Dream” – the kind of song that could turn any frown upside-down.
Find out more from the Nesbeth official homepage at: http://www.nesbethreggae.com/
JER@SBS – http://sleepingbagstudios.ca/
