Funk Reimagined: HELI's 'Who Saw The Funk Die On The Street?' Revives and Transforms the Genre
HELI’s ‘Who Saw The Funk Die On The Street?’ is a single that boasts great creative power and vision. The pop/funk vibes of the song sit so well with the textures in the thick of it all. The melody at first sits in the murky past. Atmospheric tones and synths shift and dance behind a bout of spoken word — the fire in the belly of the song begins to grow. The stage is now set in this plane of bounty, the beat kicks in and the bass hits a roll. Cascading electronica pitter-patter across the vocals as they send us away on a soul-bound voyage through worldly pop. It’s a thrilling feeling, that rush of tone.
The layout of ‘Who Saw The Funk Die On The Street?’ may be one of my favourite things about it. It lists into sections with a hazy blend of tones and harmonies. The vocals sit amongst synthetic tones and incline toward robotic, but they stop at the line, an uncanny valley of emotive vox. HELI hits you hard with funk in the back and lets his creativity run rampant in the highs and mids. What is born from this melding of passions is a single that speaks to the very soul of you. Its melodies are spellbinding and its imagery is unforgettable. A fantastically colourful single.
LINKS
https://ww.facebook.com/thesoundofheli
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0xSQxtvUlh8NmywjTQRRW0?si=xx268LZeRVKXJWV0-lSCzA
https://www.youtube.com/@thesoundofheli
https://www.instagram.com/thesoundofheli