Checking in with Slicko DiCaprio has never been so rewarding – his bars are both mature and explorative on “Ain’t Felt L.ve”
Slicko DiCaprio has always been at his most charming in hazy worlds plagued by love and all it’s intricate pains. Earlier tunes such as “Consider It Done” and “About Love” are chain-linked to matters of the heart, their musical backdrops made all the more mystical for it. “Ain’t Felt L.ve” carries this tradition forward into DiCaprio’s newest era; his words are sharper, his delivery positively phantasmic, and his confidence total. He drags his voice like charged fabric across blades, spinning electric stories out of the hardened truths and letting trivialities fall aside.
It’s the vocals – from content to inflection – that carry “Ain’t Felt L.ve”, not forgetting the competent pirouette of Slicko’s self-made beat. Pad-based melodies are a winner for more downtempo tracks like this, matching well with a battalion of clean percussion and lower notes that cut in and out for carefree harmonisation. Back to the vocals; “Thought I lost the plot, worried and for what” crawls out like a slow flood, broken in the throat before the words even know sound. Slipping into the first verse, where the above quote originates, from the exaggerated and slightly sweetened hook will be a surprising moment for even long-time fans. “Mortal Bodies” – DiCaprio’s last major tape – was full of switches, but none as serene as this. The song remains excitingly trademarked with the artist’s quirks; some bars run a touch long, some words are filtered by accent or cadence, some feelings catch like a jacket on a door handle, demanding attention for a second longer, throwing momentum back onto itself. At the end of the line “tryna give more than I take”, it’s hard to not linger on the last word’s conviction.
“Ain’t Felt L.ve” is Slicko DiCaprio at his most mature. Maturity in this sense doesn’t represent something grave, or bold, or dark. The music video is ceremonious in its lightness, featuring DiCaprio dancing and turning with the lens, so, certainly, it’s the steady use of different emotions that speaks to this artist’s development. He’s heartbroken, sure, but he’s also prospecting for new ways to create. Hopefully there’s even more to find.
Listen to “Ain’t Felt L.ve” here.
Follow Slicko DiCaprio on Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Music
– Jamie (⅓ @108MICS)
108MICS 