SINGLE REVIEW: JUSTINE BEVERLEY - TIL IT CRASHES
Having appeared on our radar earlier in the year with her excellent single "Second Look", Justine Beverley is back with a further attention grabbing release in "Til It Crashes". There's a magnificent statuesque stare from Justine that graces the cover, posed on the beaches in Wales daring you to dive in!
Always destined to be something special with Tim Prottey-Jones in the producers chair, this single sees him bring his pop sensibilities to a track with essentially just four instruments and a voice and what a job he does.
It's almost an indie sound created with the combination of booming drum and moody bass, along with the electric guitar that is more atmospheric than rhythmic. It all makes for a heady cocktail as Tim creates a soundscape that gives the feeling of enormous space, with each instrument having plenty of room. Justine's vocals join the fray very early, self assured and authoritative, the lyrics for the opening verses paint her character in a similar light.
"I'm as tough as an old man's boots
Don't need no-one to keep me warm
I'm the maker of all the rules
I get home before light turns dark
Til a man comes around
With a look on his face
Vanity has no bounds
What I want is the chase"
The chorus is an absolute thing of beauty, little explosive bursts come as Justine's vocals seem to find new levels on the words "Want" and "Make" and the little pause on the last line before the final word are neat touches that make this single so impressive.
"What if I want to play, save me a seat at the table
Let me make mistakes, I won't always be young and able
So before it's too late and my leg starts to shake
No need to pull a fight, throw your body around
Yeah you call it a phase, but I call it a wave
And I'll ride it till it crashes!"
Each exit from the chorus finds the band at their most most moody and muscular, the guitar picking a different path to follow each time.
There's undoubtedly a steamy infatuation by the time we hit the final verse with the need to mirror tattoos.
"You feel like a run in the rain
A little cold, a little sweat, a little pain
They say that lightning doesn't strike twice
It already struck plenty of times
The graffittis on your left arm
I got to have them tattooed on to mine"
The final exit from the chorus, sees the most expressive guitar work to date, it also finds Justine repeating the final line
"and I ride it till it crashes"
a further three times, until the sudden dramatic ending.
It all goes to form part of Justine's debut EP, however if you want to hear an embryonic version of "Til It Crashes" then it is well worth digging into Justine's original demo on Bandcamp. The essence of the song is still there, the emphasis, the pauses, but instead of a spacious band sound there is an almost claustrophobic tight acoustic sound, with Justine's intricately picked out guitar the only instrumentation. It is only the ending where there is a noticeable variance. It makes for a version that shows that Justine had a clear vision for this song from the very off, one that Tim Prottey-Jones has done an excellent job in capturing and enhancing with subtle backing vocals and that most forthright of sounds.
Justine's EP "Between Tides", including "Til It Crashes" is available Nov 6th
Pre Save link is below.
