Review: Vertigo – Alice Merton
- by Nicholas Gaudet
- in Reviews
In a captivating twist of rock and industrial, Alice Merton blesses listeners with a power-house of an anthem with her new single Vertigo, sounding powerful, simple and complex all at the same time.
There’s a driving force with this track, like horses galloping into war. That groove is especially present in the choruses, with the chanting melodies that are ever so catchy. From the get go, you can already tell the energy Alice was going for. There’s an almost Muse-like force behind the song, without sounding blatantly like Muse. There’s also this almost arena-rock vibe to it, which is why the song feels so powerful to begin with. The distorted guitars, the heavy drums, all of it combined makes for a brilliant tune. The lack of clear harmony, other than a cheering choir, gives it this strange feeling of a leader chanting to an army. There’s something incredibly powering about the singer’s delivery, despite not bearing too much energy in her voice, especially in the first half of the chorus, where the lyrics are almost delivered in a rap. The break after the second chorus sounds as a nice grounding moment where the song slows, allowing the chord progression to really breathe, sounding all the more like a true alt/industrial rock song. It helps give purpose to the rest of the song, and after listening to the section, almost feels necessary to the composition. The guitars are especially fantastic here, with the strong, catchy riffs ending the chorus repetitions, and giving just enough energy to the verses to make the transition to the chorus as smooth as possible. The production is just as exquisite as the rest of the song, sounding crystal clear where it needs to be, and absolutely nasty in other areas, like the grit applied on the vocals, giving even more of an edge to Alice’s delivery.
Vertigo is a song that honors the anthems made by bands like Muse, all the while sounding incredibly original and unique. It’s a powerful anthem that would make even the largest arenas chant and scream.
