SLOW HANDS
Originally published on The Daily Ditty July 22, 2017
One month anniversary writing this blog! How time flies. Though I’ve not been adhering to my post a day schedule, it’s crazy to think that one month ago was my official launch, you could say, back into life. At the beginning it seemed a little slow going but now I’m just snowballing. I think once S and I went shopping for my new wardrobe the change became real. I’m even more social, I have things to do other than work, I’m taking singing lessons, and I’m trying to write a song (now that’s a new experience for another day). I’m slowing but surely getting to know myself again, and I’m having fun doing it.
Today is a busy one, I had my grandparents over this morning followed by a quick lunch. Now I’m sitting by the pool at yet another long lost friend’s house. Then tonight S and M will be coming over for what has become our legendary girls nights. I can’t remember the last time I was this busy, let alone this social. I’m not feeling tired yet so that’s good.
Sitting by the pool and looking at the company, it’s quite the high school reunion. Though I’ve been in and out of touch with some, others I haven’t seen since I left the French high school (maybe 6 years now). With Toronto’s weather being bipolar as of late, we weren’t sure it was going to happen. It’s nice to see the folks again like time hasn’t passed.
Today’s selection came about a little differently, normally it’s a tune that reminds me of something or it’s a song I’ve been playing on repeat. Today, however I had no song in mind, I asked the crowd around the pool for some ideas, something pool party related maybe, and the consensus was It Ain’t Me by Kygo and Selena Gomez, which is a really good song. As I started to write a song that I had already heard three separate times played on the SirusXM radio playlist we had going. What song do you ask? Well it was Slow Hands by Niall Horan of One Direction fame. If a song plays that much in one day, the universe obviously wants me to talk about it. I literally can’t escape it. It’s everywhere.
Out of all the One Direction solo projects, Horan’s work is a close second in my books. I enjoyed his first, probably now forgotten single This Town when he played it on Ellen in 2016. It was very 1D-esque and could be mistaken for Little Things, now Slow Hands is in line with the summer slow jams smooth moves genre that has been dominating the airwaves. At first listen it’s a good song, easy listing, simple lyrics, driving bass and beat, muted guitar (if you pay close attention). Pretty much exactly what you would want from a summer charter. Technically, I have a few problems with it: Production wise it’s exactly what I expected from a former boybander, however I am not sure what they were going for with the clipping of the end lines in the first verse.
“We should take*clip*..is back to my pl*clip*ace“
I don’t know why they did it, it’s annoying, Niall has great phrasing so maybe it was for stylistic reasons… emphasizing the bouncy bass. I don’t know. I don’t like it, it’s not consistent, and they shouldn’t have done it. My other, though smaller issue with the song, is the lyric:
“like sweat dripping down our dirty laundry…”
Every time I hear that line I burst out laughing. Like picture them in a writing session writing this song and sorting out the chorus. If you are sweating enough to see it dripping off textiles (I’m assuming we are talking bed sheets in this song) you should probably see a physician. Immediately! Unless you have plastic sheets, to which I would then recommend Niall run because we are entering Dexter territory and that never ends well for the person on the plastic.
Considering that other than Zayn, Harry Styles is the only one with a full album out, it will be interesting to see what the others come up with. I think we can do better than Strip That Down. Though nothing will compare, in my books, to Kiwi.