Trends in music are inevitable; musical fashion makes its rounds all year long, and artists all across the globe are going to try to capitalize on what’s trending. In the last few years, there’s been a sudden uproar in jazz, mostly found in lo-fi hip-hop and neo-soul. The latter has especially found a home in popular R&B, but has slowly died down in the last months. So, when I heard the beautiful extended chords played by a luscious Stratocaster that opens up Bring Me Back My Smile, I couldn’t help but to feel hopeful in neo-soul’s life in pop music.

Daniel Donskoy takes what’s beautiful about neo-soul, what’s energetic about hip hop, and the drive that’s found in pop, and mixed them all to make the potion that is this song. You can find elements of so many genres, it really has something to offer for just about everyone. And yet, despite its diversity, the vibe remains consistent throughout the tune, which is just short of three minutes. There is a distinct lack of clear structure which serves as a compliment to the song’s mix-and-match feel. The hook, however, is the one constant in the composition, grounding the musical piece together.

What’s most impressive about this song is Donskoy’s constant switch ups in delivery, going from a melancholic, almost Michael Jackson-esque, high tenor delivery, to melodic rap, to a powerful punk-sounding power-chorus. The combination alone is worth praise, but the singer’s wonderful execution of each of those ambitious vocal styles is truly worth talking about. 

The ambition in Bring Me Back My Smile is something that is missing in a lot of music. While Daniel reaches for many ideas, and executing them with grace, he never strays far away from accessibility. Just about anyone and everyone would find it easy to get behind both his soaring and rhythmically charged melodies.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.