Jakey - "Pine Barrens" (Single Version)
I was pretty lukewarm towards the previous Jakey single, but this is definitely a noticeable step up in quality. The songwriting on "Pine Barrens" is far better than his previous works, with more detail and a bigger focus on telling a narrative than something like "Moby Dick" (as fun as that song is). Even the singing here is a noticeable step up from "Not Dead Yet," which makes the scratchy, cheap-sounding pitch correction a bit disappointing. I'm not diametrically opposed to pitch correction, to be clear; more so, I just feel like it makes Jakey's upper register sound harsher and more strained than it should.
It's difficult to ignore the Joji comparison, especially with the sadboy R&B-pop aesthetic being so prominent and even those quiet, formant-shifted ad-libs around the two-minute mark, but make no mistake: this single does demonstrate a good amount of artist progression, and it makes me optimistic for Jakey's future works.
PRODUCTION: 70/100
PERFORMANCE: 70/100
PERSONALITY: 80/100
OVERALL: 73/100
tl;dr - Almost a great song, but a few technical issues take the song down a peg; still a great effort from Jakey.
Original Publication Info:Location: Rate Your MusicTitle: "Pleasantly surprised, but still leaves a bit to be desired."Rating: 3/5 starsDate: 28 November 2022