BMA single review by Vince Leigh
CBR band The Decideds’ new track is a rousing concoction of interconnected styles and genres, fusing funk, soul, and disco for a spirited hybrid.
No doubt the run of festivals and sell-out shows throughout the ACT and NSW since 2021 has fine-tuned the seven-piece group’s focus, with So Long persuasively transposing energy and songwriting craft into a bold and expansive all-in sound.
Although the song maintains a typical mainstream pop arrangement, the parts are augmented and super-charged by the various performances and consolidating lines. Perhaps most enticing is this convergence, offering us a soundscape that feels as live as if they’d recorded the song at a gig.
And maybe they did adopt an old-school recording approach, as the sonic fervency is as dominant as the obvious, and yet not, appropriation/amalgamation of styles.
With its lone funk guitar intro a mere taster of what is the foundational core of the track, So Long stretches out into a brass-led blues-pop song. Amid the thick and intense musical flavours, the vocal performance acts as our anchor, reigning in the rest of the band as though attempting to prevent it from veering too far away from the task at hand.
Yet, this is just what we experience when we are in the presence of a live act; any live act really. There is the threat of complete abandon, which in some instances is what we’re attracted to.
Despite this vague sense, however, So Long also contains a certain kind of stability. There’s the underpinning funk-soaked bass guitar parts, and the self-assured executions of the drummer.
Said skinsman remains in control throughout, yet adds to the rawness with aptly placed fills and accents.
If you were to venture into a gig where The Decideds hold sway, So Long would undoubtedly sound just like it does here. Which is A Good Thing.
You can hear this track on Spotify or Apple Music
Catch them on June 3rd supporting Skunhour at The Basement. Tix here
