Does Indie Need To Be More Influenced By Janet Jackson?
Aside from her singing, melodic and non-rhythmic elements in the arrangement have a somewhat subliminal effect on the listener, guiding and emphasizing dynamic shifts without distracting attention from its primal hooks. As the song approaches its climax, it gradually adds more textural elements without crowding out its abundant negative space and emphasis on percussion. (As far as I can tell, there is no guitar in the song whatsoever until its final minute.) Jam and Lewis’ track is a masterpiece; a virtuoso performance that achieves an immediate, forceful physical effect via subtlety and nuance.
I suggest that musicians focus their attention on the arrangement of “Miss You Much” rather than Jackson’s vocal performance or persona, but I would be remiss not to mention that her presence is essential to the success of the piece. Her voice effortlessly transitions from a rhythmic toughness to soulful emoting to a flirty softness without overselling any aspect of her performance, lending the song a continuum of emotions and attitudes that add up to the impression that we’re listening to the expression of a fully-formed human being with contradictions and complexities.
I have to say that I would be much more likely to listen to indie that had the sort of backbone and physicality of “Miss You Much”; part of the reason that I was so down on that CSS album was that for a dance record, it was pretty lifeless, which contributed to the overall feeling of meh given off by it. (I’d also posit that the recent blogosphere frenzy around my personal favorite track of the year, Ida Maria’s “Oh My God,” is a direct result of that track taking some of the lessons of “Miss You Much” to heart, particularly when it comes to aural texture and shading.) The relegation of pop in indie culture to “semi-ironic whispery cover” is something that’s continually irritated me, because it implies a knowledge of popular music without any further engagement with what musical mechanisms turn those songs into “pop, and I’m definitely looking forward to future installments in the series.
Also it would be great if Janet somehow found Perpetua’s post and took his advice to heart, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Janet Jackson – Miss You Much [YouTube] Your New Influences No. 1 [Fluxblog]