drinkbleachh focuses his efforts on “I MIGHT”, exploring new textures as a producer and finding new patterns as a vocalist.
drinkbleachh has spent most of the last fifteen months carving his personal style from the solid mass that is modern pop-rap. His songs are backed by electric guitars played in full chord progressions rather than arpeggios, his vocals are strained but far from annoying, rounded at the edges by a distinct Canadian accent. His personality bleeds through the music. “I MIGHT”, a recent single from the Toronto-based artist, is an attempt to cast this personality onto more immediately recognisable musical patterns.
drinkbleachh croons atop a translucent array on “I MIGHT”. His production here is more forthright than anything on 2019’s “Amygdala” or “1026”, but less aggressively hyperactive than HAUNTXR’s beat for last month’s “Same Drugs”. It’s a tight niche, but a nice one to be in; the melody treads the line between synthetic and diegetic with confidence, and the beat is roomy, carried by crisp claps and snares. A low-pass filter envelops the song in the build up to the opening drop, highlighting the swell of the main synth. One of the main ways drinkbleachh deflects typicality is by rapidly building upon the song’s core beat – cymbal crashes ring out at the start of the second hook, a consistent hi-hat pattern enters at around a minute in, all of this adds needed momentum to the pretty but otherwise subdued core. The second hook is where “I MIGHT” shines, a vortex of harmonisation, sound effects, and percussion, all mixed to drinkbleachh’s exacting standards. At almost two and a half minutes the song is just short enough to leave the listener reaching for the replay button, but “I MIGHT” begins to end just as its pieces fall into place. Another cyclonic hook or even another verse would satisfy the itch the song’s long buildup creates.
As stated the harmonisation drinkbleachh presents with “I MIGHT” exists as part of the production, it forms a densely packed soundwall that compliments the beat more than the main vocal performance. The lead recording is fine to stand on its own though; vocally drinkbleachh takes a surprisingly laid back approach, a step away from his typical precision. He slides across the top of the beat gracefully, slipping into higher and lower notes with smooth elegance. There’s something of a slur to the vocals too, which slots in well to the loose form the song takes as a whole. “I might just flex on the industry” comes out as one long word, and the refrain “smoking that gas” is impressively sticky for such a simple phrase.
Overall it’s comforting to see drinkbleachh play with new styles. As an artist he’s at a point where he could pick a route and run with it, but instead he chooses to expand the borders of his own lane. Recent visual works further confirm that drinkbleachh is not done experimenting with gorgeous and creatively rich aesthetics. “I MIGHT” is not essential to understanding drinkbleachh, but those who understand drinkbleachh will find it essential.
Listen to “I MIGHT” here.
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– Jamie (@youngjade1216)
108 MICS 