Welcome all to ππΌπ»π»πΌπΉπΉπβπ ππΌπΏπ»π²πΏ, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of πππ¬ πΌπ§π©ππ¨π© ππ₯π€π©π‘ππππ© playlists.
πβπ’ ππ€π© πππ§ππππ© – ππππ§ππ£π π½ππ§π§ππ©π€
Charles aims for perfectionβ¦
Any anti-royalists may turn the page now – I donβt want a whole hunk oβ junk in the comments.
After a long and wonderful weekend celebrating the Platinum Jubilee, it occurred to me that our dear Queen might be the most perfect celebrity in the world. Ever. She might even be considered the most perfect person in general. She has literally done no wrong. She has only achieved goodness. And I couldn’t conceive of anyone thinking any differently. This is more surprising and impressive than you may think for various reasons. We all make mistakes. Yes, even I have been known to make the odd error. I know, itβs hard to believe, but itβs true. I am not famous. I am not in the public eye. Sure, YOU know me. But letβs just say I can do my weekly shopping in peace, without being mobbed by scores of adoring fans. Or scores of swearing haters. The thing is, when one is in the public eye, oneβs every move is watched and judged. For some reason, people care. People take note. People criticise. People also praise. The Queen is just about as famous as one can be. Even a camel in a country from the Commonwealth gracefully dips its head in acknowledgement and with respect. So despite the intense scrutiny from the press and the public, she has managed not only to survive unscathed, but to triumph with flying colours (red, white and blue, of course). The Queen has not only done no wrong, but could also be the most popular person in the world. What a lovely feeling that must be! Such pride, both ways. This is made more impressive by her years (as opposed to Prince Charles made more impressive by his ears). The longer one is around, the harder it is to keep up the standard. Usually one will misjudge a situation and fall flat on oneβs face at one time or another. But not this lady. If she WISHES to fall flat on her face, she will do so – or get someone else to do it for her – a perk of the job. Either way though, she is reluctant to do so, and remains on her feet at all times, handbag at the ready, after all these years. Whatβs her secret? Well we now know, itβs marmalade sandwiches. Who knewβ¦? Hereβs to our Queenie. Her perfection is her purity.
Perfection is however a difficult term though. Is it a term? It is maybe a notion, but Iβll call it a term. No, Iβll call it a notion. Because this is exactly what it is. It is something many of us strive for (should be all, but, ya know), but really it is an impossibility. No one is perfect. Nothing is perfect. Perfection doesnβt actually exist. So why bother?? The striving is everything, not the perfection itself. We should all be trying to achieve the closest we can to perfection. It makes us better people. But one must be happy, comfortable and content in the process. If your attempt is crushing your soul, it might be best to settle for second place. We are all different. We all have different personalities and different talents. Popularity is a different thing altogether though, and I feel it is something that some may have got a little confused with perfection. Both notions are striven for these days, but they are very different. One can be popular, yet far from perfect. This didnβt used to be the case. One can also be high up on the perfection charts, but entirely unknown. Our Queen has managed however to simultaneously achieve both. Does this ever happen elsewhere? I believe it does, if on a smaller scaleβ¦
When we turn our gaze towards music, we see the rise in popularity. But do we honestly see perfection? The tendency seems to edge closer to βpopβ over βperfβ. Should we maybe replace pop music with perf music? I think not. We have some pop stars these days who are hailed as the almighty gods of modern music, but their actual output might possibly be considered as rather less than perfect. A decent song here, a mediocre song there, a good song here, a catastrophically appalling song there. So why hail these stars so highly? Why carry them on rigid arms? Probably because despite their mediocrity, it might be the best weβve got at the moment. Which is a sad thought. Fortunately it is not the truth. These stars are simply the most popular. Not the best. There is PLENTY of stunning music out there, by extremely talented artists. The sadness comes with the fact that they are unknown to most.
I bring your attention to someone who is younger than The Queen (who isnβt??). A VERY young lady, in fact. A girl I have reviewed twice before. This in itself is almost unheard of, but this is kind of my point. You maybe wouldnβt expect much at all from a 14 year old, in terms of talent and success. You certainly wouldnβt expect a string of singles – 13, to be precise – in less than 3 yearsβ¦! But thatβs just quantity. Who CARES? Well, hereβs the thing. Anything close to perfection demands time. Time to learn. Time to hone oneβs skills and discover oneβs talents. Time to realise what works and what does not. Well apparently this isnβt the case all. Not always, anyway. Sabrina Barreto has broken the book of rules (probably doesnβt like reading) and simply continues to release hit after hit after hit. This is my absolute genuine feeling. This has nothing to do with her age, and I never take age into consideration when βjudgingβ an artistβs work. For that would be meaningless discrimination. I am not saying she is βgood for her ageβ. I am talking about the quality of Sabrinaβs music. So far, the Torontonian is on the road to perfection. In fact, the way things are going, she is fast approaching the near-impossible combination of perfection and popularity.
Sabrinaβs previous single was I think possibly her best: I Wonβt Be Broken. But I didnβt review it, for the simple reason that I didnβt think it would be fair to the other artists and wanted to give them some of the spotlight too – bearing in mind I had already twice reviewed her. Speaking of The Queen, one might call it a sense of duty. But enoughβs enough. I canβt ignore this talent. I am never biased, I simply open my ears and listen. Ms. Barreto ticks all the boxes every time. But this time, she REALLY got tangled up in my heartstrings, with her somewhat ironically titled brand new single, Iβm Not Perfect. A simple piano ballad. Simple on the surfaceβ¦ The subtlety in the chordsβ voicings (how a certain chord is played in terms of the order of notes) makes this track sumptuous. Sabrinaβs mature and strangely experienced voice floats atop the ivories with honesty and a wide open heart. Her lyrics suggest that she wants to βfit inβ and βbe likedβ – this common feeling of confidence vs popularity where I feel the rare relief of being my age and not any younger. Letβs face it, the young have a pretty terrible time these days, what with social media spying from all angles. Judged from every perspective. Not nice. Not nice at all. Sabrina sings, βthey just want to point out my flawsβ – cruel to be kindβ¦? This is surely simply cruel to be cruel. As the song unwinds, we see that all she wants is to be allowed to be herself, and to be happy. What humble wishes. Tear-inducing, really. Like a Dickensian street urchin asking for a pair of shoes and a slice of bread. Being young should be all about happiness and joy. Contentment and fun. THEN things get heavy later on, as βreal lifeβ starts to kick in. But oneβs childhood will usually shape (or break) oneβs entire life. Thankfully, our dear Sabrina has none of this to deal with in the New Artist Spotlight. Because we roll with honest love, and she is frankly one of our favourites – and rightly so!
Musically speaking though, the βdarlingβ of this song – I use that word in music to mean gorgeous gem – is four notes, sung with a soft request. It is the final refrain after ββ¦if you just let me be meβ. She sings βBe me, Trulyβ. This simple yet heartbreaking moment is followed by the word βHappyβ. It is gorgeous, and it gets me every time. That twinge in the heart was not too dissimilar to what I felt when I saw The Queen up on that balcony. Weepy eyes all round. Sabrina, please keep doing what you do, as so far youβve been pretty flawless.
Sheβs not perfectβ¦? Well if she ainβt, I donβt know what is.
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