Tottenham-based musician, common goldfish, has dropped his sophomore single with Shout Louder. Goodness gracious, it’s a bit bloody good. It offers a similar vibe as his first single Feel The Fuzz, with its funky riffs and soft vocals flowing through the track, but goes even further and gives us even more layers to get lost in.
Common goldfish already seems to be laying down his signature style, and I can tell that it’s going to go down a treat with a lot of people. To be honest, I think it already is! There seems to be some solid hype on social media surrounding the London artist at the minute, and it’s all very deserved.
The song kicks in with some ridiculously groovy bass. It’s so groovy that it’s hard to imagine a strong enough bass-face to match it, but I’m sure common goldfish can prove me wrong. The first lyrics of the song also represent the first time we hear the chorus, with the lyrics ‘shout louder’ being repeated in a Primal Scream ‘Screamadelica’ sort of way. I’ve no doubt that Bobby Gillespie would love this track.
After the first few shout louders are exclaimed, some lively, bouncy piano makes a smooth and stylish entrance, reminiscent of Happy Mondays and the wider Madchester/90s indie scene. The musical elements of the bass and piano provide an amazing starting point for a festival and club banger, which is just what common goldfish has created here.
What I like so much about the dreamy vocals, singing ‘look into each other’s eyes’, is the fact that they’re never overbearing. The vocals are recorded in a way that they don’t take all the limelight from the instruments; the instrumentation is certainly not secondary in this track. His voice and the musical elements weave together and bounce off each other in an acid-infused trippy dreamland.
The hollow, psychedelic guitar is used skilfully too and once again, isn’t overbearing. It’s all too common to hear a band use guitar a bit too much in a psychedelic song, which isn’t necessarily a problem. Going mad on a guitar is great, rock on! But there’s skill in subtlety. This song has just enough guitar. Not too much. Not too little. With this track, common goldfish is proving that sometimes, less is more. Well, definitely in the verses - where much of the soundscape is dropped compared with the fuller chorus - his accent-driven lyrics of ‘floating down the stream’ are suitably matched by the sound of the electric guitar swimming through the cosmos, where they intermingle flirtatiously with one another. The chorus gives a great contrast with its larger-than-life vibe and the atmosphere to suit an outdoor festival on any sized stage.
He revealed: “I’d been watching the “Get Back” documentary, which definitely inspired the vocals and psychedelic guitar sounds. The track was making me think of being outside with friends in the sun, and the lyrics try to capture this.”
There’s certainly euphoria in this track, not only in the music but in the lyrics. Common goldfish has really created a beautiful single here; seemingly a masterclass on how to take lots of different sounds and musical ideas, and put them together to sound like they were always destined to be played this way.
You can get lost in the weird and wonderful sonic land of common goldfish’s new track HERE
Writer: James Lawson
