Cerakai - Only You Know (song review) |Gracie Productions, Within
Your Realm EP, 2015| 4/5 electronic lounge
Cerakai is a UK based producer and musician with over 10 years of
musical experience. Despite playing in a UK band before, he traveled
to Sydney, Australia, where he launched a solo project. This probably
lets him get more control over writing and managing own content for
further development.
Fans
of mellow lounge music will definitely enjoy this well balanced song
at its “just about right”
length. "Only You Know" includes arrangements
written for several instruments. The graded, organic bass lines sound
moody and velvety. The synth is high-pitched, cold and at times
resonating. The occasional guitar riff vibrates nicely and pins into
the arrangement like a needle. The beats are quick and dry. On top of
all this, there are also delicate male vocals reciting the lyrics.
The voice is matched well to the subtle yet groovy atmosphere.
The composition is simple and based on sweet repeating arrangements.
Nevertheless, it sounds 'multidimensional' thanks to the vibration of
each sound - the bass brings a lot of warmth, countered by the
coldness of the synth. Both always oscillate, catching your attention
in their opposing ways. Therefore, the human brain's hemispheres seem
to be equally involved in processing these sounds - their math
(through the timing of repetitions) and harmony (overall mood)
together.
However, the track undoubtedly needs a matching intro and outro, that
would help emphasize the body of the content better and 'zap' it into
a shapely form. Without these, the song has no frame and opens with
the same synth-bass arrangements which continuously repeat to the
very end.
Finally, what makes the most for an electronic
song’s potential is its audible charm and power, but also
repetitions that get you hooked. In case of "Only
You Know", we can't talk of any
overwhelming sonic impact, but the pleasing repetitions are
definitely here. Despite the song's gentle vibe (definitely not meant
for headbanging), it has a chance to catch on with the right crowd,
thanks to memorable fragments in which a sampled female voice repeats
"you know".
So, a short part of this track could potentially be successfully used
as an advertisement jingle.
Cerakai provides music for movies and TV shows as
well. Within
Your Realm
EP which was released in May 2015 is also available in US. It has
aired on
BBC Radio as well.
(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, Fabryka Music
Magazine, June 22nd, 2015. Proofreading: Mike 'Vesper'
Dziewoński)
Reviewed by Fabryka Music Magazine