2020 vibes abound, “Icarus” is a new single from Skye Allen. The first single from the Detroit-based artist’s upcoming album, “Icarus” lyrically and structurally echoes the year’s tumultuous turns — evolving from summer-friendly glow into dark retrospection, in a knack for good times being sharply interrupted/grounded — alongside a vibrant beat. Lounge-friendly piano, synth touches, and a jazzy rhythm section navigate throughout, with a transition from boop-bap to a mellow trap aesthetic past the two-minute mark succeeding resoundingly. The final section reminds quite fondly of Frank Ocean. A varied, alive song structure and witty lyrical prowess converge, rendering “Icarus” as a striking success from Skye Allen.
Allen elaborates more on the track’s structure and themes below:
“‘Icarus’ is a song I wrote with multiple analogies for current state of the world and the tale of the boy who flew too close to the sun. I did this with the lyric as well as the production of the song. I briefly explain the main two metaphors.
Metaphor 1. The song toys with the idea of the sky falling, and when the sky falls, the sun does too. The character ”icarus” is the aspirations of mankind. One of the biggest human aspirations is to touch the sky, and go as far as humanly possible. That can be in our careers, hobbies, relationships, and personal development. but since the beginning of this pandemic, a lot of us had to ground our selves for safety. In a lot of cases, our wings melted, but it wasn’t from us flying too close to the sun. The sky simply fell beyond our control and brought the sun with it.
Metaphor 2. the production. The first half of the song is the flight of Icarus. Everything is smooth and bright, and I’m busting backflips and barrel rolls with bars. I intended to have this part carry a summertime vibe that insinuates a feel-good mood. even though we’re in a pandemic the summer is still here, but on the same token, it’s not the summer we wanted. Then the second half starts, everything slows down and beat changes. The mood turns mellow and dark. Sonically this is the fall of Icarus which in my head is where we’re at now.”
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“Icarus” and other memorable tracks from this month can also be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of September 2020’ Spotify playlist.
The track is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Emerging Hip-Hop.
