“Prize Fighter” opens with this sluggish, eerie construct that genuinely wrong-foots you earlier than it explodes into full indie rock mode.
Jean Dawson’s utilizing boxing as a body for one thing extra private right here – all that speak of title belts and going the space, however actually he’s asking if any of this effort truly issues.
“Is the prize battle honest?” lands in a different way if you realise he’s most likely not speaking about boxing in any respect.
The manufacturing is stressed, but with a peaceful. There’s darkwave within the bones of it, certain, however then these synths crash in and instantly you’re elsewhere solely.
The beat strikes at a gradual tempo, which works as a result of the entire thing’s about pushing ahead if you’re undecided why you’re nonetheless preventing.
Dawson’s voice stays measured all through, virtually conversational, which makes the desperation within the lyrics hit tougher.
What’s fascinating is how he pulls from all these totally different sounds – various R&B, storage rock, digital stuff – and it doesn’t really feel messy.
The Flints and Dawson know what they’re doing right here. Although actually, the synth decisions really feel a bit protected, however nonetheless it does its job. They work, they simply don’t shock.
From his deluxe album Rock A Bye Child, Glimmer of God, this monitor sits in that uncomfortable house the place dedication meets doubt.
The metaphor’s heavy-handed at instances however Dawson commits to it totally. There’s one thing genuinely aching about how he repeats that query again and again, like perhaps if he asks sufficient instances somebody will truly reply.
