Firm and brimming with an exquisite swagger, we find the velvet-toned lashings of a violin in the center of the spotlight beside Demola and Wande Coal in the pair’s new collaborative single, “Light Up,” which is out now alongside a chic and sexy video for the track starring its two singers. There’s nothing conventional about Demola’s music, but there’s something all the more experimental about his most recent studio work, which sees him teaming with Wande Coal for a rapid-fire session of rhyme and rhythm that is almost certain to stir up some praise from critics and Afrobeat fans everywhere.
Right off the bat, the masterfully meticulous mixing of “Light Up” has an impact on the mood of the music. From the percussion all the way to the vocal interplay, every element here sounds unfiltered, raw and intimate, to such an extent that I get a live vibe in a couple of different spots. It’s not devoid of a polished tone in the least, but there’s an artificiality which is incredibly common in contemporary pop that is completely absent from this single. Both the video and the song itself have an in your face-physicality that stops just short of being assaultive in style, and that alone is something worth writing home about.
The beats are consistently exotic in this track, and they complement the flexible stylization of the instruments wonderfully. It would be pointless to deny the fact that “Light Up” has a ton of layers and flowing sonic facets for audiophiles to sift through, but again, this crisp master mix makes it possible for us to enjoy every intricacy here without getting lost in the hypnotic harmonies underpinning every verse. This is a superbly engaging pop song, and while it could have been a little edgier in its transition from one stanza to the next, I wouldn’t change a thing about its overall cosmetic comprisal.
Demola – Light Up ft. Wande Coal – (Official Music Video)
Music World Entertainment recording artist, Demola, is back with his hot new single “Light Up” featuring Nigerian pop star Wande Coal. “Light Up,” which was written, performed and produced by Demola himself is a mid-tempo afrobeat and pop song that starts off with his sweet signature violin and then “lights up” our heart and ears with his melodic voice.
There’s just as much detail to the music video for “Light Up” as there is in the single itself, and though it touches on a lot of familiar ground tethering it more to the sounds of American melodic hip-hop than world music, it’s nevertheless a really fun watch with an optimistic opulence that adds to the song’s narrative substantially. It’s as bright as the summer sun, and despite an at times erratic construction, it never devolves into predictability, nor leans too heavily on the obvious over the original.
If you’ve never heard Demola’s work before, 2019 is the time to get into his sound, as it has unquestionably evolved into a relentless entity that is above comparisons with his less than erudite peers in hip-hop, R&B and electropop. He’s come a long way since first debuting on the scene, and though I definitely think that he’s yet to reach his creative peak, “Light Up” brings him into the studio with an artist of equal caliber and ultimately presents us with one of his most refined and robust compositions to see release thus far. Demola is riding high on his experimental harmonies right now, and once you give “Light Up” a listen for yourself, I think you will be, too.
Clay Burton