AMANDA-- "WAKE ME UP" by AVICII

Hey guys! It's nearly August, which means sadly the summer will be ending soon. But no worries, there is still enough time left to have magical adventures and plenty of great music yet to come. Speaking of music, I am crazy about Avicii's "Wake Me Up," released just over a month ago. I make a point of trying to keep up on the latest trends  and the first time I heard this I didn't care for it at all. Fortunately, I have awesome friends that send me music regularly and I took another listen. It made all the difference. Avicii has been taking some heat for the song, which fuses elements of rhythm and blues, folk, and rock with house and has a country feel to it. Personally, I give him kudos for daring to change things up and standing by his artistic choices. This has to be one of the best, most interesting of his tracks to date, due in no small measure to his collaborators Aloe Blacc and Mike Einziger (from Incubus) , who are responsible for the lyrics and vocals and and guitar work respectively. The official video came out yesterday and honestly I wasn't terribly impressed; it looks like a commercial for designer jeans which could have been the point seeing as how Avicii has a partnership with Ralph Lauren. The lyrical video released previously is beautiful in its simplicity and ultimately makes for a better accompaniment for the song. As a sidenote, it bothers me that Aloe Blacc's name isn't included in the title. He brings so much depth to the song and it feels like a disservice to someone who could use (and surely deserves) the recognition. In conclusion, "Wake Me Up" may not be what people have come to expect from Avicii but there's no denying it's a triumph in its own right. I find it very exciting and commendable to see musicians experimenting with their sound,  promoting collaboration across the different genres, and challenging their audience to think in new and creative ways about what they're listening to. I'm not asking anyone to engage in deep, intellectual thought here but simply to give it a chance, maybe two even. You might just be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy!