Review: Worth – Seq
- by Nicholas Gaudet
- in Reviews
It’s very rare that artists manage to mix soft tones, sounding like water flowing down a river, and heavy, gut-wrenching beats, like the edges and bumps of the rocks the water flows over. But, as expected of Seq, the artist manages to mix the two in a perfect blend otherwise thought impossible in his newest single, worth.
Seq has been on the rise with projects like Fade Away, Gravity, and most recently his debut EP I’m not worried, fuck me up, but nothing quite compares to his newest tune. It starts in typical Seq fashion, with a very lofi guitar accompanied by his soft, soulful vocals guiding the melody along. The way he makes his way around the chord progressions are akin to a boat floating on calm water, slightly swaying you back and forth in the most relaxing way. As the verse repeats, however, you can already start to hear the grit in his voice show, but only in the slightest bit, which might even go under a first-listen’s radar. Harmonies in-between those verses are not to be ignored, really carrying the harmony that’s being played by the guitar. The melody prior to that just begs for it, and Seq delivers. Half-way through the song, however, there’s a sudden shift in energy; it’s subtle at first, with the introduction of the arpeggiated synthesizer, but you can tell the stormy clouds are overhead. And then thunder hits the sea as the blasting 808s punches through with the heavy drums, the singers’ voice full of grit. There’s almost a sense of pain in his voice, especially as he reaches the highest notes of the song, and it supports the energy of this section like nothing else could. It caught me off guard to say the least, but as the section first hit, I realized that nothing else would’ve worked in this case. The slight hints, both in tone and instrumentation, were all slowly leading up to this climax, and despite being unexpected, it fit the song perfectly, and it just felt so right.
To say that this tops even Seq’s greatest is obviously subjective, but it also acts as a testament to the songwriter’s musical capabilities. The bar was already raised astronomically high with his previous releases, and he absolutely delivered with worth. If this doesn’t immediately draw new listeners to his music, one would only have to listen to a single other Seq track to be in for the ride. And even then, I’d be in a favorable wager to bet that worth will put Seq on everyone’s radar.
