My thoughts on “Finder”, yet another new digital release from Sway Emotions Slightly.

 
Release Date: October 18th 2020

Tracklist

1. Finder

With 2020 slowly starting to draw to a close it’s about that time of year where one might start to look back and consider things like “Top 10 Singles”, “Best Newcomer” and other such fun but ultimately meaningless opinions. It’s going to be pretty tough this year what with everything else that has been going on in the world but with all that being said, there have still been plenty of highlights if you’ve been paying close enough attention. Or you know, if you’ve been reading the site on a regular basis over the past 12 months for example.

When it comes to highlights of 2020 Sway Emotions Slightly have to be in the conversation for lots of different categories. The group debuted this year, put out a killer EP (review here), followed it up with an even more awesome album (review here) and more recently they put out their “Parade” digital single (review here) which saw them continue their insane momentum against all of the odds. Sure, their brand of emotional Rock might not be to your personal tastes but it’s hard to argue that they haven’t had a pretty incredible year for such a new group.

Well, Sway Emotions Slightly don’t appear to be done quite yet as they look to round out the year with yet another digital single. This time we have “Finder” and while I normally approach every musical release with an air of cautious optimism, based on their insane track record I’m finding it really hard to keep my excitement and expectations in check. I have no reason to think that this track won’t be fantastic or that I won’t enjoy it a great deal so hopefully Sway Emotions Slightly don’t make me look foolish here. Either way, I’m looking forward to finding out so let’s get into this review and check this song out.

Warm vocal melodies are the main impression that “Finder” is making early doors, accompanied by some nice light guitar riffs to the bright, comfortable feeling that they’re trying to impress on the listener. No real surprises so far as both of these things are what SES have proven they can do incredibly well over the course of their rapidly expanding discography. From there though the song really starts to open up, with the guitar tone taking on this very atmospheric style to really kick the song up a couple of gears from where it started from. This style crops up several times throughout the track and makes quite the statement in doing so as it’s offset against this groovier, almost Funk sort of vibe that’s one of the more standout components of the verses. Of course we also get pretty much everything else in between as well because SES are so talented vocally to be able to pull off rich, deep melodies, super emotionally charged Ballads and of course the more conventional Rock and Pop styles too. It’s quite a journey this song takes you on and it somehow manages to touch on pretty much every aspect of the SES sound and vocal styles that they do so well while also keeping everything cohesive and with a nice, clear progression. I love the smooth flow of the verses, the intense emotions of the choruses and even the blending of both when the track is flawlessly transitioning between them. If you played this song to a random Japanese music fan and didn’t tell them what it was or who it was by I feel like they would probably guess it was some hot up and coming band which in my personal opinion would be pretty high praise.

Sway Emotions Slightly continue to impress me with their output this year and if they’re not already on your radar by now then I don’t know what to tell you. “Finder” is a pretty good snapshot of what the group does so well musically so starting your journey with SES here wouldn’t be the worst option but I really would recommend their debut album “Empathies” (review here) to get a full taste of what this really promising group has to offer. Come on, it’s not like any of us have anything better to do right now anyway right?

While 2020 has been on the whole a pretty forgettable year, Sway Emotions Slightly are one of the bright spots in an Idol scene that it feels like only now is starting to feel the true effects of the slowdown and shutdowns of the past 10 months or so. 2021 is going to be a year or rebuilding for many and I hope that SES will be around to be one of the groups at the forefront of that effort. Don’t let their relative newness fool you, this trio are the real deal and are poised for big things if they’re able to catch a much deserved break.