PIKES (Christoffer Ling) has been here a couple of times now but I’m more than happy to give him another run because his style fascinates me. Among his numerous influences are Peter Gabriel and honestly the first time I listened to ‘Play’ I thought I’d tuned in to the Charterhouse boy by mistake, especially in the way he comes in with all guns blazing, and later that it might be of ‘The Lamb lies down on Broadway’ vintage, at least in the opening 30 seconds or so.
Mr Ling could (should) play him in any biopic that materialises, which can’t be that far off as Pete’s getting into his dotage now.
Now having said that he’s mixed it up a bit this time, with the addition of soundscapes representative of Howard Jones (what is love anyway Howard? – haven’t you found out yet?) and even Michael Jackson.
As it progresses it gets so funky that if your legs don’t start moving to it involuntarily, check immediately that they are still attached to your hips.
He explains the song’s raison d’etre (you don’t get that in your regular blog do you) as being his attempt to understand just where today’s musician stands as he tries to adapt to ‘the modern day attention span’ – which in my experience is that of a gnat.
Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, if you don’t get your Spotify message across in six seconds you might as well go home. (It takes PIKES about 0.6 seconds on ‘Play’). Even the .wav file I first listened to it on gives you the option to keep skipping forward 10 seconds as if you are going to find a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow.
He determined “to capture the desperation and the want for attention that the musician needs to possess in order to make it today.” “Tell me what you want me to play” he pleads.
He adds, “It’s definitely not enough just to be a great musician. You need to be a circus clown and you need to cater to the ego of the consumer of your work”.
Hm. I’m not sure about clowns Christoffer, although you’ll see plenty of those at the US Grammys, but yes, many egos have to be massaged for sure.
And on top of everything else it is radio ready at two minutes and forty seconds. Perfecto.
You know I have so many submissions to listen to right now that I don’t know where to turn next, but this is one of the most creative tracks I’ve heard so far this year. It’s got ‘winner’ stamped all over it.
‘Play’ is released on 24th March on the ART:ERY MUSIC GROUP label. The album ‘Yuppie’ (which sounds like an 80s throwback?) will be released later in the year.
Find him on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PIKESondemand/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeofPIKES/?hl=en
