When it comes to crafting the perfect love song, there’s no exact formula that musicians have been able to follow to immediate success. For some, the traditional love ballad route got the job done, and across history, the simple love ballad seems to generally work best — there would be flourishes on the blueprint, such as Elton John’s record-breaking “Your Song” that functioned as the most meta love song of all time, but the love ballad as a concept was a surefire hit in most regards. Now decades into popular music finding its way through radio waves and, more recently, streaming algorithms, there’s something far more varied happening in music. Everyone has their own spin, everyone has a “take.” For the traditionalist in me, nobody can write a classic love song these days — at least, this is how I felt until I came across Druv Kent and his new EP Love in F#. Filled to the brim with five distinct tracks, Love in F#’s latest single has finally arrived with “Million Ways.”
“Million Ways” checks all the boxes of everything I was talking about; it’s a genuine, unabashed love ballad full of lush, full musical instrumentals and earnest, powerful vocals and lyrics. There’s no reinventing the genre with Druv Kent, but every time a new single surfaces, listeners can bet that Kent will give them a catchy track worth writing home about — “Million Ways” is bursting with positivity, an infectious chorus, and one of the year’s strongest pop melodies. The use of guitar in a pop setting is a strong choice, and the song feels ripe for remixes with its chameleon-like ability to consume the soundscape while also forming listeners’ own experiences.
“‘Cause when you hold me tight, the water’s rising, baby, if we got love tonight, let me know; not thinking wrong or right, just being, baby; show me you get me in one of a million ways.” The chorus hits with a force missing from most modern pop songs, and while the melody feels familiar, there’s something undeniably unique and one-of-a-kind about the track that only Druv Kent could have composed — listening to the rest of Love in F#, fans will recognize his signature sound as a testament to the nostalgic, classic songwriting style of musicians from before Y2K; there’s a timelessness to “Million Ways,” but its use of yesterday’s melodic techniques with today’s musical hardware is undeniably a powerful combination.
There’s no reinventing the wheel, here! In fact, from “Million Ways,” listeners are given the sense that Druv Kent loves the wheel and wants to add his name to the long list of people who used the wheel to transport his own ideas into the stratosphere — Kent is allowing himself the creative freedom to perform within a variety of genres and techniques (the EP contains reggae, techno, pop, and dance-pop in its five songs alone) while holding himself to the standards established by popular 20th-century pop composers, and the duality works beautifully for his inimitable sound. “Million Ways” perfectly encapsulates everything he has set out to accomplish thus far as an indie pop act!
Heather Savage
The music of Druv Kent has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division. Learn more https://musikandfilm.com
