Getting Synced With VK Lynne's "Brain Waves"

I have said many times that I don't like modern pop music. That's a gross simplification of a more complex reality, wherein pop music has largely shifted towards a sound that is centered on rhythms instead of melodies, dour sadness instead of more lively emotions. Pop music today is as if the music I grew up listening to on the radio has been poured through a sepia-toned speaker, coming out distilled, monochromatic, and hard to decipher. Elton John recently asked, "where are the songs?" That's the feeling I get listening to modern pop, as the emphasis on flow and feel simply does not mesh with the way my brain is wired. Pop music was an escape, and I no longer feel enticed to run away with it.

But if anyone can rescue pop music from itself, VK Lynne might be the right woman for the job. With her shock of pink hair, her outsized voice, and her poetic mind, she is a throwback to when pop music and pop stars were larger than life, when they leapt out of the screen and made us pay attention, made us think, and made us remember them. Or, maybe I just happen to be on the same brain wave as VK.

 Opening with finger snaps, VK's vocal in the verses weaves a rhythm of words in a lower register, showcasing her poetic side. It can be heard as an interpretation of modern 'mumble pop' done clearly, but I hear it almost as a poetry recitation set to music. By subduing the melody to her flow, VK is putting more attention on her lyrics, which stand out as your brain has to put the syllables into the rhythm. As she sings, I can hear in her cadence the clicking of typewriter keys as she furiously pounds out the words while they are fresh thoughts in her mind. It's an approach I often find fault with, but that's because giving us neither melody nor interesting words means there is little to grab onto.

VK is a writer, and because of that her lyrics give us images and ideas to ruminate on, they give us the ability to give as much of our meaning to the song as her own. A song can be universal by saying something obvious with simple language, or by saying something complex with enough of a veil we are able to fill in the details ourselves. When she sings, "smiling through the glass in the mirror", we can decide if she is genuinely smiling in the face of the events, or whether the smile is caught in the mirror itself, the inverted reflection of her true feelings. The words might slide by without a thought as you listen, but the question is in there. Eventually, you start to see yourself in the song, because you are able to draw your own conclusions, which are bound to follow your own shape.

When the chorus hits, the song basks in its pop glory, with a bright melody standing atop the guitars and keyboards. The textures are pure pop, but with a far more organic sound that makes it sound and feel alive, which is the complete opposite of what modern pop tends to imply. There is vibrancy and color in VK's voice, which goes from singing a hook reminiscent of Lady Gaga's best pop period (but I'll be the one to say "I'll Always Remember You This Way" from "A Star Is Born" is her best song), to throwing in a hint of her old blues in the last line. We're all built from a world of influences, and we get to hear several of them in these three minutes.

The songs VK writes for The Spider Accomplice are dark stories to balance out the energy of Arno's guitars. With "Brain Waves", VK has her brightest, most candy-coated backdrop to sing over, and it reveals even more of her voice than we've heard before. Everyone sounds sad singing the blues, and plenty of singers are powerful singing over a rock song, but not many are able to turn a sugary pop song into a thick, smokey caramel. VK is one of those rare people, and it's fascinating to again hear a pop song that sounds like a moment of realization, where the swell into the chorus is the cathartic breakthrough we all wait for.

Great pop music is one of the hardest things to write. Trust me, I know from experience. Trends sometimes make it a hair easier or harder, but at its core songwriting that connects and entertains is not an easy thing to master. "Brain Waves" is a great pop song at a moment in time when we could all use more of them. If more pop sounded like this, I would be more of a pop fan.

Then again, maybe I'm just on the same brain wave as VK Lynne. That's not such a bad place to be. 

"Brain Waves" will be available everywhere on October 1st. Pre-save it here.