Review: Little Simz - Mood Swings (futuristic rap in the present)
- by Peter Källman
- in Reviews
Little Simz just released a new track titled “Mood Swings.” This track has impeccable production and vocal flow; let’s dive into it. After a few seconds, I can personally say with great confidence that I am going to enjoy this tune a whole lot. The track starts off very minimalistic with dark alien percussion, really hard-hitting 808s, and Little Simz doing what she does. The mix of everything together is very good. The percussive elements are clacky in just the right way, the vocals are naturally fitting where they need to be, and the low end with kick/bass is quite satisfying. The track gives a pretty hypnotic mood, even though it keeps switching up, alluding to the theme of “mood swings.” If you look at the little visualizer that came with the track, it enhances the whole futuristic sound pretty well. If I am not careful, I think I’ll listen to this track 240 times.
The producer on this track is Jakwob. He is a British composer who has worked with Simz before, on the track “Time Capsule,” for example. Writing credits go to Simz and Jakwob. I can’t find much about their previous collaborations, so maybe they rekindled the creative contact through this release. Often with major artists, you will see a whole heap of collaborators, co-writers, and people being involved in the creative process. I am not saying this can’t be a good thing, but when you have a track this good and it only shows two people were involved working on it, that is truly something special for me. It means that the whole thing must be close to the source. Or at least is more likely to be closer to the source than in other cases. Best not to be too analytical.
If you have not heard Little Simz before, I highly encourage you to check out her other songs as well. All her tracks are pretty unique in themselves, and I would not say that "Mood Swings" really gives a lot of indication to her “usual” sound, if she has one. She has one of those voices that really would turn anything she sings over into a Little Simz song. She has previously been described as an artist with a strong sense of independence and of incredible creative powers. I think it really shows not only in this track but in her whole discography that she really values that her music comes out sounding like what she wanted it to. Since she has people produce her music in a lot of cases, that might not always be the easiest task. I think it then becomes more about choosing which track will be the right “vessel” to carry her ideas. She also does not conform to current trends in her genre, which is very refreshing. If you are into rap right now, I think you know what I mean. I can’t start with that now. Please go and listen to this fantastic new release by Little Simz!
