This week, pop songwriter and producer Evan “Kidd” Bogart revealed a secret hiding in plain sight on Rihanna’s 2006 hit “SOS”: “The entire second verse of that tune is ’80s tune titles strung collectively as sentences,” he mentioned in a viral interview snippet that mapped out the references line by line. Mk.gee’s new single “Rockman” is form of like that, besides Michael Gordon has his sights set on basic rock’s nice, flamboyant entertainers. Over a loping riff with greater than a whisper of Blue Öyster Cult, he evokes Bruce Springsteen (“I need it on fireplace”), Michael Hutchence (“I want you tonight”), and, within the tune title, Sir Elton John.
Alongside these lyrical subliminals, you would possibly catch another sly jokes—just like the gun pointed at an overstuffed pedalboard within the single art work, or the eagle screech perched atop the combination. How does all this irony and interpolation handle to sound so completely honest? Gordon’s angelic, layered harmonies actually assist, however actually, this man simply appears to adore the concept of being a rock star. Present him a style with a historical past of macho self-indulgence, and he’ll shut his present by enjoying the identical tune 12 occasions in a row. He’s poking enjoyable at his rock’n’roll idols as solely somebody who loves them can.
