“High Like This” by Avatari

Emerging from the silence ever so slowly, like a shadow appearing in the moonlight, an instrumental melody is conjured up before our ears as “High Like This,” the new single from Avatari, begins to play. The beats that soon slide into place and give shape to the rhythm of the song are just as provocative as any of the actual music is, but between the rigid grooves lies the real prize for us to enjoy here – Avatari’s singing.

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There aren’t a lot of bells and whistles in “High Like This,” and if you were expecting a lot of synthesized harmonies atop plasticized textures in the drumbeat, you’re going to be pretty disappointed with what this aspiring pop star just produced to help kick off the new decade in style. Hybrids in pop and other corners of the music world might be all the rage right now, on both sides of the Atlantic, but for those of us who just want some straightforwardness in our sonic indulgences, it doesn’t get much better than what this skillful young man is doing in this single.

Everything in “High Like This” is structured to complement our star’s crooning, but as I previously noted, the very idea of excessiveness in the big picture here is dismissed right from the jump through an efficient construction of the hook that precludes every important juncture in the track. The details are intricately wound together here; some by Avatari, some by the instrumentation that joins his as the canvas to his brush, but all in all, they’re seamlessly appointed to such a fine degree that we’re never feeling as though the music is getting smooshed together in an attempt at larger than life exuberance.

 The fact is, Avatari doesn’t need that kind of artificiality to make a big statement with his verses, nor the velvety harmonies that bring them to us so neatly – he’s got the presence that it takes to pull together any and all loose ends here, and though he’s approached similar concepts before this release, his style of attack sounds a bit more perfected on this particular occasion. 

It’s still tough to tell what he would do with a full-length album, but by all counts in his new single “High Like This,” Avatari gives his biggest fans plenty of reasons to expect some really great things from his in the years ahead. He’s defiantly expressive in this song, and his confidence is infectious enough to keep anyone’s attention, no matter what their personal interest in the pop genre as a whole is.

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I get the vibe that Avatari doesn’t want to be known as a specific kind of a singer, but instead just as a powerhouse vocalist who can take great lines on paper and make them into brilliantly touching words in a track – which, to be fair, is exactly what he does in “High Like This.” I’ll be listening for more in the near future, as will all who are falling in love with his sound this month. 

Trace Whittaker