Carly Shea – Forever: Song Review + Interview

Truth be told – There probably isn’t any song that I’ve listened to more in the last few weeks than the Carly Shea song – Forever.  There’s something mesmerizing about her music that draws you in and keeps you there long enough to make your brain replay what you’ve been hearing long after you turn off the earbuds.  It’s almost like a Venus Flytrap – without the untimely demise.  It catches your eye or in this case your ear and then lures you in.  Once inside – you’re trapped.

I am happy to be trapped inside of Carly Shea’s music.

The best songs that make me return to them the most are the ones that always have this one little thing that keeps me coming back.  With Forever, it was two things.  First there’s the intro beat that is just – ok, I’ll use the term – dope.  It has a swagger that only a simple beat can provide – if done correctly.  This swag is used again later in the song as sort of a reset after the chorus.  It’s a great piece of production. 

Speaking of the chorus.

The second and the most addictive part for me is that chorus.  Those extended you’s with sprinkles of other lyrics like the title Forever thrown in, make for a complete but subtle chorus.  More specifically, it’s at the end of those runs that provided that thing that had me sit up and say – Hooooold it.  That was awesome.  There’s a note that is a little off (in a good way).  It’s like she went to a minor chord from a major for a brief second and it totally makes the chorus and song for me.  If you are asking yourself: Really, Tommy?  One little note made the song for you?  That’s what I’m telling you.  When it’s done like this.  It sure does.

On the surface, it may seem like this is just another pop song but trust me, it’s more than that.  The changes, the pre-chorus and bridge combined with the rest of the track make this a well crafted song.

Carly tells me that this was produced and recorded by Thank You Fat Matt in Brooklyn, NY.  The background for the story has a dreamy vibe to it.  Carly fills us in.  She tells Sound Vapors, “I was living on the upper west side.  It’s weird because this isn’t usually how my songs come about but I found some kind of meme or gif of this kid.  This small child dancing in front of a vaporwave beach.  Kind of like this pink, floaty style art.  I can’t exactly put myself back in that moment but there must’ve been something that prompted me to think of this daydream world that was kind of like this hazy pink combination of a beach and clouds.  An otherworldly place.  I think subconsciously I was in this situation, living-wise and otherwise, where I kind of just wanted to escape and I was able to put that in a song.  The melody to the song just sort of came into my head from nowhere.”

Carly is on track to keep releasing music all summer long and she even gives me a glimpse into some of the new songs.  There’s an even greater level of production all around coming.  The quality of her future releases will be of a super high level.  But she still admits, “Honestly, it’s probably one of my personal favorites even though compared to what I’m releasing moving forward is definitely more commercial but this one for me, I enjoy listening to, I think the most out of anything I’ve made.”

Two more things.  I’m excited to hear her new songs and the production that will follow.  And two – It’s going to be hard to top this one, for me.  There’s a charm that Forever has that just seems to happens sometimes.  Go give it a listen and see if it has the same effect on you.

-Tommy Marz

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