The Weeknd's gorgeously glossy vocals allow a confusing Swedish House Mafia release to stand out from what would have been an otherwise disappointing track.
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The return of the Swedish (funnily enough) EDM-trio Swedish House Mafia was a strange one. Following mass success in the early 2010s’s bringing their brand of ‘progressive house’ to the mainstream, there was a sudden split in 2013 following their biggest hit ‘Don’t You Worry Child’. In 2018, the group reunited for the Save the World tour, however, it took another 3 years before any sight of new music would surface. You could quite easily be mistaken for not realising that any new release from them had arrived this year: singles ‘It Gets Better’ and ‘Lifetime’ released and disappeared without a trace.
But alas, the group have returned once more for a new single titled ‘Moth To A Flame’, teaming up with perhaps the biggest artist in pop at the moment: The Weeknd. But how does the track fare?
It cannot be denied that The Weeknd’s vocals are what allows the tune to thoroughly shine, glistening like liquid silver amongst SHM’s production. The production of the song, however, is also what falls a little flat for me. For a trio who pioneered a genre a mere 10 years ago, it comes across as frankly boring more than anything. I would be tempted to label the song as ‘disappointing’ with any other vocalist, though I dare anyone to not want to be chanting along to the chorus by their second listen thanks to Abel’s distinct inflexions!
The instrumental outro also allows the abilities of SHM to shine, however, all it adds to is the disappointment of such mediocre production throughout the rest of the song; here’s hoping for some club-worthy remixes in the coming months.
‘Moth To A Flame’ is distributed via Republic Records. You can see for yourself below:
