Live Review: Slum Sociable take on pop with new single, 'Do Something About It'

23 May 2018 | 3:57 pm | Kyle Fensom

Ahead of their East Coast tour Slum Sociable share 'Do Something About It', unveiling a new pop-focused direction to their jazzy, electronic trip-hop

Melbourne duo SLUM SOCIABLE (EDWARD QUINN and MILLER UPCHURCH) have unveiled their stunningly introspective new single, ‘Do Something About It’, the first of two new standalone singles that the duo will be releasing in anticipation of their upcoming East Coast tour. On this, their first new music since last year’s self-titled debut LP, the duo channel their brand of lo-fi, jazz infused electronic trip-hop that they perfected on that record towards a more pop-oriented direction.

The sparse composition is heralded by some hisses of crackling static and a synth line that moves at an exhausted pace, sounding almost as if Slum Sociable had distilled the tone of a slowly deflating, punctured balloon into a melody. Spacious guitar lines, lavish synth chords and a minimal beat further fill out the tender cut, infusing the track with overtures of the midnight-hours sensuality that Slum Sociable so poignantly trade in, whilst Upchurch’s affecting vocal performance contrasts against the deep, call-and-response vocals of the verses.

Of the vulnerability that colours the track, vocalist Miller Upchurch said, “‘Do Something About It’ was written from the perspective of a feeling, of when time stands still and your stomach drops, when you don’t know how to cope in a split second scenario, while still prompting you to act.”

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Singing from the perspective of this feeling, Upchurch delivers Slum Sociable’s most transcendent pop moment yet with the swelling, harmony-drenched chorus: “I’m gonna let you down, give you doubt, give you doubt / I’m gonna come around without no sound, with no sound / But I know that I’m the one to make you feel this way / And I know that I’m the one to make you feel this pain.” The duo have never aimed for the heights of pop in such an explicit manner before, so it comes as something of a surprising left turn - but when they sound this good pulling it off and, moreover, when they sound this natural absorbing this new direction into their already well-established sound, it’s hard to argue that it’s anything but a welcome left turn at that.

Slum Sociable will be touring the East Coast across June and July - find all the details and tickets below:

 

IMAGE: Supplied

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