Track: In My Dreams
Artist: Kali Uchis
Length: 3:21
Label: Virgin
Released: 6th April 2018
Tempo: 83BPM
Key: F Major/ 7B
File Format: MP3
Bitrate: 320kps
Genre: Pop/RNB
Sub-Genre: Electronica/Neo-Soul
Background
Karly-Marina Loaiza, better known by her stage name Kali Uchis, has been releasing music since 2012. Her debut mixtape, Drunken Babble, still has her trademark silky smooth vocals that made her famous, but the production values on the album are much more lo-fi. It’s hard to think that only a year before the release of this debut that Loaiza was still in high school, living out of the back of her car (Díaz, 2017). The mixtape clearly reached the right ears, as the EP that followed, Por Vida, had production by industry heavyweights such as; Tyler the Creator, Diplo, Kaytranada and BadBadNotGood and was followed by a slew of a-list collaborations. To say people were excited about her debut album would be an understatement, the brand of dreamy synth-pop that Loaiza lives in is rarely graced by someone with both a beautiful voice and a story to tell and so like a pied piper for millennials looking for music with more substance, she had a captive audience under her spell.
Pictured: Tyler the Creator and Kali Uchis perform their collaboration, See You Again, live on Jimmy Falon – Source: (DeVille, 2017)
Isolation, her debut album, received universally positive reviews with NME giving the album 5/5 stars, Pitchfork an 8.6/10, Rolling Stone an 8/10, a light 8 from theneedledrop and Consequence of Sound a 91/100 for a Metacritic score of 88/100. It’s not hard to see why with stellar production from industry giants; Steve Lacy, Thundercat, Kevin Parker, BadBadNotGood, Tyler the Creator and Damon Albarn, Isolation is arguably the pop album of the year. Loazia’s artistry is peaking with her lyrical depth and catchy hooks effortlessly tying the mix of soft soul and upbeat RNB together. Whilst an overall incredible album, the highlight for me is the Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorrilaz) co-written, In My Dreams.
Link: The internet’s busiest music nerd, Spamthony Cramtano’s, review of Isolation – Source: (Fantano, 2018)
Arrangement
Pictured: The full arrangement of In My Dreams
Like most of the songs on the album, Loazia plays it fairly safe in the arrangement of the piece. She and Albarn have followed the pop music formula to the letter, a 4/4 time signature that sticks within F major, organised in 4 and 8 bar phrases that feature short melodic portions which repeat over and over to help the listener remember them. Throw in a repeating chorus that is Loazia singing the title of the song repetitively and you’ve ticket every column of the checklist (Bennett, 2014). The structural arrangement is Introduction-Verse 1-Chorus-Verse 2-Chorus-Bridge-Middle 8-Chorus-Chorus. Some snobs consider this a bad thing, but then again In My Dreams and Isolation weren’t written for snobs to fawn over, it’s a happy pop song designed to get the kids dancing, humming the chorus in their heads even when the song stops and it does that excellently.
Pictured: The drum pattern that repeats throughout the song
The introduction announces all the lead elements of the song, notably, the drum pattern that barely changes over the course of the entire song. Dominated by the high-hats, the drums are fast paced and energetic, immediately breathing life into the track. The high-hat pattern plays continuously on 16th notes, playing a double open hat before every offbeat (1,1,3 + 1,3,3). This is paired with a simple kick-snare pattern with the kick playing every beat, interspaced with a snare on the offbeat of every second kick (1,2,3+1,4,3). This pattern alternates at the end of every 2 bars by adding include a small tom and bongo fill on 16th notes. Otherwise, the only change to the pattern is that an extra kick is added the 16th note after the one on (2,3). These small variations add lots of intrigue and swing, so even though the listener becomes familiar with the drum pattern very quickly and can lock into it, they find the repetition enjoyable as they try to decipher how the pattern is being changed over the course of the phrase. Sonically the drum kit is highly likely from the CrateDigger VST, a favourite of Albarn (JackSS2313, 2018). Albarn would have chosen this kit in order to replicate the 90’s RNB/Hip Hop feeling Loazia is trying to evoke the listener to reminiscence over throughout much of the album (Computer Music, 2015).
Link: The Bomtempi Organ, most likely played by Albarn throughout the track – Source: (kyadie, 2012)
The other main element in the introduction is the keyboard/organ. Albarn has deliberately used a “toy” sounding organ to evoke feelings of youth and innocence. He is likely using the Bontempi Organ he has in his studio, a relatively cheap Italian organ with some real character which gained some popularity in the 70’s and 80’s (Polymath, 2014). The organ plays the main chords of the song, but in such a way that it acts as the lead. Offbeat portamento jumps between notes on the last beat of the bar give the chords a unique quality that is unlikely to be found in other songs. This slide between notes is very pleasurable to the listener and it’s a damn shame its only found in the intro of the song. However, the emission of the offbeat jumps allows the listener to focus on new instruments, especially Lozaia’s vocals.
Pictured: The bassline that repeats throughout the song
The only other elements in the introduction are the bassline and guitar. The bassline is a simple 16th and 8th note progression, mainly on the root note but moving up to the 3rd note in the scale then down to the 7th for the last two 8th notes of the 1st and 3rd bars. The lightly distorted guitar comes in just after halfway through the phrase (4,2), playing a repeating pattern focused around the 3rd note in the scale as it moves from side to side in the stereo field.
Pictured: The guitar melody that plays during the introduction
Once the introduction is done and we have progressed into the verse, these elements simplify in order to let Loazia’s vocals take centre stage. The guitar leaves the mix, the organ shifts to an on-beat progression that follows the bassline, the only addition is that of a staccato trumpet repeating on 16th notes, which again sounds like a toy in order to cement this childlike innocence Loazia and Albarn have crafted for the track. This staccato gives way to fuller sounding legato trumpets as we near the end of the verse and the start of the chorus.
Pictured: The staccato trumpets that repeat intermittently throughout the song
The chorus of the track is largely similar to the verses. It maintains the same drum beat apart from switching all the hats to be open for the last bar of the phrase, as well as having the same bass line just adding addition note switches to the end of every bar apart from the 3rd. It brings back the staccato trumpets from the beginning of the verse but supplements them with a larger legato horn section which really helps fill the track out. It’s the repetition of the title in the chorus that truly cements In My Dreams as the standout pop song on Isolation. The vocal doubling that dominates the stereo mix grabs the listeners attention, underpinned by the drumline that the listener is now hooked into Loazia wistful lyrics are catchy and very much a sing-a-long.
Link: Vocal Doubling using Izotope Nectar: – Source: (Hazan, 2013)
After the chorus we have verse two, identical to verse one in every way bar the lyrics, again reinforcing the main themes of the track in the listener’s mind. After the verse, we jump straight back into the chorus, which again is identical to the previous chorus. It’s after this cementation of the key elements and themes in the track that we finally get a change with the bridge. Whilst maintaining the percussion, bass, organ and trumpets it’s the addition of a lead melody played on a bouncy sine-y mallet that sets the bridge apart from the rest of the track. Throughout the bridge we get dreamy panning ooh’s from Loazia, with several of the ooh’s being pitch shifted up an octave toward the end of the bridge. The listener is faked into thinking the chorus will come back at the end of the bridge as Loazia sings the same transitional woah-oh-oh melody as she does to transition out of the verse. We are then greeted by Albarn’s male vocal, a welcome change from the high-end register of Loazia’s voice. Albarn harmonises with himself with a cute little la-la line. This middle 8 then gives way back to the chorus, which repeats twice. The only notable addition is that in the chorus repeat Albarn brings back the la- la harmonies he sang in the middle 8. After the chorus ends the song abruptly finishes, most likely as an outro wouldn’t suit this upbeat radio-friendly pop.
Conclusion
Link: The lead single off Isolation, After the Storm – Source: (Loazia, After The Storm ft. Tyler, The Creator, Bootsy Collins, 2018)
In My Dreams probably won’t stand the test of time, give it ¾ years and barely anyone outside of a Kali Uchis fan club will know it exists, it’s pop music after all. However, in 2018 it will go down as one of the better songs, on one of the better pop albums of the year. This is due to it playful innocence, excellent production, and catchy lyrics. I’m very glad I tore down this track as it not only gave me an insight into one of my current favourite songs, but also an insight into pop music itself.
Works Cited
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DeVille, C. (2017, September 28). Watch Tyler, The Creator Play “See You Again” On Fallon With Kali Uchis, The Roots, And A Miniature Orchestra. Retrieved April 27, 2018, from Stereogum: https://www.stereogum.com/1964795/watch-tyler-the-creator-play-see-you-again-on-fallon-with-kali-uchis-the-roots-and-a-miniature-orchestra/video/
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Liam Lyttle 