Alternative rock has never been easy to pigeonhole, and thanks to artists like Avatari, it never will be. Avatari isn’t content to make formulaic pop music that falls down the same aesthetical ladders we’ve been seeing for the better part of the last thirty years, but instead looks to broaden his artistic palate significantly in the new single “High Like This.”
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/avatariworld/
Fusing elements of hip-hop, pop, rock, and a touch of club vibes into the mix is where he starts, and his velvety vocal can be credited with finishing us off – largely thanks to the bold harmony it’s able to construct almost out of nowhere. This is not another stock indie pop single in a year that has thus far been filled with a lot more duds than studs, and if you’re worried that this isn’t going to have an original edge, you might not be familiar with the previous works of one Avatari. This is a player who wants us to get a little closer to the beat, and through his adept handling of this hook, we’re introduced to someone I could listen to a lot more often in the future.
From the get-go, this groove is pushing us deeper into the clutches of the bassline, and yet it never feels like our man is going to lose control of the rhythm; truth be told, he’s commanding it with little more than the tonal presence his voice has in the arrangement. This guy loves to swing, even when there’s an absence of lusty beats to chase after, and I get the impression that this song would blossom all the more as a club mix than it does here.
There’s just something endlessly physical about the way we come into the chorus, and rarely does it ever feel like we’re in danger and yet totally protected by the tempo in a single pop song. If I wasn’t familiar already, I would have assumed this artist had been around in the underground for a lot longer than he has, which is all the more a testament to what he might be able to accomplish after he gets a little more time and experience in and outside of the recording studio.
DISTRO KID: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/avatari/high-like-this
2023 feels like a good year for hybrid pop music, and if you haven’t started building your spring playlist just yet, “High Like This” might be a good cornerstone to work with. Avatari has a pulse that draws anyone within earshot into his web of romanticized pop luster, and with just a little more exposure from the right outlets in alternative music, this is going to be someone we see a lot more of as time goes on.
He’s got a lot of gusto when and where it counts, and although we’re getting a mere taste of it in this brand-new single, something tells me that he’s going to come out even stronger than he did in this performance with whatever he chooses to record next. I’ll be sticking around to find out, and I think a lot of other pop lovers will as well.
Heather Savage