Surreal melodies and beats that don’t back down are just a couple of the ingredients that Heather Fay tosses into the melting pot of tonality that is her new single “The One,” a three and a half minute pop jam that will get stuck in your head even when you’re not intending for it to. Fay splurges with the synths in this track, lets her hair down and attacks the microphone with more energy than I was expecting to hear out of her here, and while I’ve enjoyed most of the material that her scene has turned in lately, she’s operating on a completely different level in this latest cut.
The bass is always a linchpin in any modern R&B track, but it’s not as much of a wrecking ball in “The One.” It’s woven into the fabric of the synth melodies pretty seamlessly, and while there’s a slight rigidity to its structure in this song, it doesn’t interrupt the even flow of the music in the least. I probably would have cranked it a little louder in the mix if I were trying to sell this directly to the club scene, but I don’t think that this is where Fay was trying to take the track at all.
As far as the master mix goes, it’s a bit cramped compared to the similarly stylized material that I’ve heard out of her closest competitors on the west coast, but I’m not sure how bad of an attribute that really is. “The One” is super tight, cohesive and features an opulent sonic bonding between its elements that is more commonly found in classical recordings than it is melodic hip-hop and R&B, and if that doesn’t give Heather Fay a bit of a boost as a composer, I don’t know what else could.
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/3mlnhdKbmWU2p9BSXT5UMm
The drums are fairly hollow in “The One,” and though they don’t have the bark to compete with the bassline, they add a chill factor to the finish in this track that is painfully necessary to making it the showstopper that it ultimately becomes. Fay navigates the grooves with an artful swagger in this single, but her confidence never descends into the arrogance that has become all too familiar to those of us who keep up with the top slots on the Billboard charts. She’s assertive in this delivery, but she’s careful to stay as humble as one can be amidst the dispensing of these heavenly harmonies.
R&B fans of all ages and backgrounds really can’t beat what Heather Fay is bringing to the table with her all-new single “The One,” and try as the competition might, there’s just no getting around the incomparably lush lyricism that she’s bolstered by in this track. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think that Fay has reached her creative plateau with this song – far from it. My excitement surrounds her ascension into the primetime, which has been missing someone on her level for too long now, and if she keeps breaking off diamonds like this one, her brand is going to be here to stay.
Gwen Waggoner
