Unicorn single review by Vince Leigh
The latest offering from the Australian purveyor of dance-pop, Lark, is a subtle departure in terms of stylistic nuances. The new single, Unicorn, exhibits a more mainstream pop sensibility yet retains the artist’s proclivity for incorporating cheeky wordplay into her lyrics and delivering them with a decent dose of aplomb and self-assuredness. In the wake of her preceding singles, We Love Us! (2021) and Hit The Record (2022), Lark’s return marks the initiation of a fresh phase for the musician, one that aspires to appeal to a more extensive song-streaming demographic, resulting in a record that’s equally suitable for the dancefloor, car stereo, or a nuptial ceremony.
Poppy track with a classic sound
The new single blends a jaunty groove, refined hooks, and funk disco elements to serve as a warm tribute to the invaluable relationships in the artist’s life, inspired by her closest companions, her daughter and her significant other. Written in a three-hour whirlwind of inspiration and brought to fruition by the former Australian Independent Producer of the Year (2013) Jono Fernandez, Unicorn’s stylistic touchstone might be Pharrell Williams’ Happy; it features a similarly unadulterated air of comfort and glee. And like Happy, Lark has employed a classic organic sound, the clean guitars, the smooth kit and claps, the bite-size background vocal hooks, and kept it relatively sparse and open, the space reinforcing the melodies and allowing the lyric to assume prominence. Unicorn is quite the playful pop track, and one needs only search for the significance of the title to come to that conclusion—it resides in a line nestled inside the second verse. The track’s playful, open-hearted attributes—the sunny outlook, the light ostentation—are all designed for connection, and combined with the note choices, the performances and production considerations, it all adds up to a unifying dose of amiable contemporary pop.
You can listen to Lark at via Spotify and Apple Music
