I can pretty much sum up what it means to be an artist today, but instead of writing thousands and thousands of words, I’ll let Jordan Corey’s newest album, “the tunnel + the light” show you.
The wah guitar riff throughout the first track, “Friend Like Me,” fits the overall vibe of the track. If I can describe it, it sound like ice cream melting. That’s groovy as hell. The synth bass lick and the vocal sample in the chorus part work hand in hand with one another. It became the pivotal point of that section making it hard to really miss.
As a musician and a bassist myself, I appreciate the fact that the bass riff carried the second song of the album titled “Do the Thing”. It’s a rare commodity to listen to a real and groovy bass lick so for that, I lift my hands.
By the third track titled, “Something Somethin”, I can definitely say that Jordan Corey knows what is up. In a world where everything can be easily done by typing a prompt in ChatGPT, Jordan Corey decided to brave the waves and create an album that doesn’t scream “basic.” I think the secret sauce of this track is that it doesn’t feel mainstream pop. It has elements of indie and electronic, but still carries that “pop signature” by means of production value and arrangement.
“Dopamine” is the track that you play on a road trip. It’s laidback, groovy, and the chorus hook is by far the most catchy out of the rest of the tracks on this album.
The fifth track of the album, “One,” started with this chorusy guitar riff alongside that crispy yet beautiful keyboard chord progression, and of course, it has the signature “Jordan Corey” sauce, which is the bass lick. By far, this track stands out the most because of its difference. It’s slow but still has that tight groove to it, mimicking those early 2010s R&B tracks.
The intro of “Try Me’ shocked me in a good way. It feels cinematic because of how the guitar riff on top of a delay, a laidback drum beat, a chorusy keyboard sample, and this pitched-down vocal sample were laid out. It was set perfectly to confuse you at the same time amaze you by how creative it was.
“Feel Me” has the same weird, in a good way, kind of intro. The keyboard lick feels and sounds backward but at the same time still hitting that amazing/confusing sound. The melodical phrasing on this track works hand in hand with how it was arranged. It has this mid to early 2010s R&B feel to it.
The eighth track of this album, titled “Go to Bed,” is packed with loads and loads of synth goodness from start to finish, giving you this “floating in the air” kind of feel, and true to its core, the signature bass lick is still heard and felt in this track.
“Canadian Rockies (Interlude)” feels and sounds like a soundtrack to a movie because of it’s clever way of using the left to right panning in the intro section. It feels weird yet will leave you in awe of how it was creatively used in this specific track. It’s the bits and pieces that make a masterpiece stand out.
“647am” opened my ears to the idea that aside from the signature bass lick, another Jordan Corey signature is that backward-sounding lick that is heard in a lot of tracks in this album. Let me just be clear, having a signature sound or act as an artist is like having a watermark. It’s a great skill to have because it’s another way of “leaving your mark” as a producer or an artist.
“The Story” is the perfect example of what a Jordan Corey track is. It has both of her signature marks. The backward-sounding lick and the bass guitar lick. In the ears of a casual listener, it’s just sound, but to us, music lovers, it’s the inner working of a talented and creative artist.
And ending the album, we have “Earthbound”. This track has this easy-going feel, but still has that Jordan Corey watermark, and I think that’s what made this track different from other songs published this year. We can have a discussion of how all mainstream pop songs sound the same, but Jordan Corey was able to create her own signature that makes her stand out among the rest.
Jordan Corey’s album, “the tunnel + the light” opened my ears and eyes to what it truly means to be an artist today, and it’s about creating your own mark. If you like her music, go and listen to this album today!
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About the Author
He has been in the music industry for two and a half decades. Currently, he plays bass guitar for a rock-reggae band called EnjointPh and a funk-fusion trio called Banky. He also hosts a podcast titled Usapang Musiko with Ervin Besana, which explores topics such as music, arts, and philosophy.
