S.T.B. DEE JAY’s latest release “WE OK” has the laid-back good vibes to start any week off in the right way. The music is easy-going, light in nature – the riffs, the beat, and the varying moments of audio that come into play – all creatively crafted. The lyrics, on the other hand, deal with the realness of life; the words are honest and expressive of a certain truth, which holds a lot of value. All of this, and the fact that the whole thing has been produced to a notably unique level, gives the track a sound of its own for certain.
“WE OK” is mesmerizing. The strength of it comes through in the way the music sets the scene – the structure, the development, the detail – there is nothing left to do when the track plays out, but be swept away by its power and its story. The opening few moments lay a peaceful ambiance – the reverb-soaked flickers of a male vocal, the gentle and dreamlike synths – then the build-up comes, and what’s great about it is that it takes its time to climb; there’s no predictability to the drop, and that can be a difficult thing to achieve these days. The energy varies and veers off in numerous directions, taking you with it, and the return to the essence of the track is always appropriate – never haphazardly thrown in for the sake of a name. As mentioned, this shared appreciation and passion for the music is clear, consistent, and amazing to witness.
The track has an element of everything we’ve come to know and love from OK, yet it seems that in this case there is an influx of lyricism. There’s barely a vocal-free moment, and so you find yourself all at once immersed in the energy of the piece and simultaneously trying to catch and pick out every word and every idea. It’s a superbly high-energy track, the sound is thick yet intricate in detail, and in addition to this, the vocal rhythm and melody are the sort that lingers in your mind for quite some time afterward.
The brilliance of WE OK lies partly in the artist’s ability to vary so much from the expected or predictable path, yet all the while remaining in harmony with the essence of his sound and what it is that fans have come to know him for. The energy is on point, in this case, intense and even hyper – the track provides a full-on few minutes of music and is likely to leave even the laziest of listeners feeling the need to get up and go do something. The best kind of music has a lasting effect on its audience, and that’s exactly what you get from WE OK, consistently, though always in the form of something new and impossible to predict.
