Equal parts funk and rock, “Listen” grooves hard and doesn’t stop until it’s all over. Light vocals ring out easily over the open texture creating beautiful harmonies. The band, the Canadian-based indie artist Asterous, quickly matches the tone and deepens these chords while still pushing the song through its different moods. There’s an underlying intensity that contrasts the gorgeous lead vocals phenomenally well. Maybe it’s the incessant bass groove, maybe the powerful drums, but no matter what it was, the overall effect was chilling.
One part in particular I thought was impressive was how every different voice had its chance to shine bright at the forefront. Occasionally led by the vocals, the band would easily fill in any open space without sounding hollow or like something was missing. In fact, even as voices would sit some parts out, nothing ever sounded like it was missing. Instead, Asterous chugs along relentlessly.
One of the quickest forgotten elements of music is the groove. It’s easy to write a chord progression and throw random words overtop. Writing poetry to music is much much harder, yet on “Listen”, Asterous make it sound easy. No phrases feel out of place or weird, instead everything just makes sense and sounds nice. Where some artists feel the need to reinvent the wheel, the Canada-based artists opt to create good music that’s enjoyable. “Listen” was a delight to listen to, and the band leaned into all of my favorite parts of it. A great way to spend four minutes (plus more once you’re hooked!)
“Listen” by Asterous is available now on any major streaming services.
Written by Tyler Roberts
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