When you listen to their new single “So Mysterious,” it immediately becomes obvious that Noshows have a lot of different influences impacting their stylization and overall approach to songcraft. There’s a funkiness underlying the groove here that is undeniably warm and inviting, but the danger implied by the fluidity of the jazz tones in the music reminds us that we’re listening to something just a bit more highbrow than what the standard in pop calls for in 2022. There is certainly a lot going on in “So Mysterious” that some would foolishly qualify as being too removed from the simplistic to qualify as mainstream, but for the rest of us who know better, this is one of the more accessible songs of its kind to debut in the past few months.
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Our vocalist isn’t just finding a place in this arrangement from which to pin down the most exciting parts of “So Mysterious,” but instead finding themselves right in the line of fire when the hook comes into focus, which is quite different from what I’ve been seeing other players do in similar situations lately. This is a singer who wants to immerse himself in the action the second it becomes within his reach, and that willingness to get down and dirty with the most vibrant elements of the instrumentation lends a lot of cohesiveness to this performance that might not have been as easy for us to pick up on in a different scenario. It’s thoughtful, but it’s not the theatrical feel a lot of others have been going with.
Every bit of energy that the vocal can produce on the frontend of this track is brought into the mix, but if you think this means that the beat feels depleted or dragging by the time we get to the midway portion of “So Mysterious,” you’re in for quite a surprise when you check this song out. Not only do Noshows seem to be gaining more momentum in the second half of this single, but they actually come into a much stronger groove as they approach the finish line, which is normally viewed as too tension-inducing to try in a pop song. They don’t care, and their rebelliousness makes me want to throw the rulebook aside as well.
The chemistry in Noshows is as hot as it gets at the moment, and as long as they keep producing music on the level they have in “So Mysterious,” it’s difficult for me to picture their career getting anything but additional accolades moving forward. This is a very competitive time for pop and those who are looking to add something different to the lexicon of its core aesthetics, but in the case of Noshows, I think we’ve got a band that has the potential to make as many fans of soft rock happy as they do those who appreciate R&B and intellectual pop, which are three groups that are rather difficult to please on an individual basis, let alone in the same audience.
Trace Whittaker
