ADORE - A Turning Point in Jasmine Thompson's Career (review)
Jasmine Thompson’s new original single Adore is a stunning success. It’s her first original song released as an Atlantic Records recording artist, and Adore exceeds all and any expectations.
Adore is breathtaking. Literally. I held my breath listening to it for the first time, it’s so good. It’s a hypnotic, ethereal, electronic dance track with a very catchy beat, evocative lyrics, and heart-achingly beautiful vocals. Stylistically, Adore is similar to the sounds of Jasmine's top charting EDM singles Sun Goes Down and Unfinished Sympathy.
Two words quickly come to mind to describe Adore. First word is catchy. Its beat is catchy, its chorus is catchy, its lyrics are catchy. Usually I need to listen to a song a couple of times to get a good feel for it. Not with Adore. It grabbed me from the get-go. The signature line from the chorus, "I adored you before I laid my eyes I laid my eyes on you,” is catchy as all get out. And the French line, “L’amour Toujours,” is delectably catchy as well.
The second word to describe Adore – unique. Adore is not one of those catchy but forgettable songs. It’s catchy and unforgettable, it’s catchy and unusual. Adore actually reminds me a little bit of Robin Schulz’ hit Prayer in C. While very different in tone (Adore has a more romantic feel to it while Prayer in C is more edgy), both songs have catchy dance beats and instantly memorable melodies. Perhaps not surprisingly, Jasmine has sung Prayer in C live on several occasions.
And of course, Jasmine’s vocals are ethereal and beautiful as ever. The great thing about Adore is that the dance beat does not overpower her vocals. The wistful, haunting Jasmine Thompson sound is on full display with Adore, lending the song a sweet melancholy.
Ultimately, Adore is a success, not just because it’s a well-crafted song, but because of what it signifies for Jasmine’s career. The release of Adore is a significant step in Jasmine’s transformation from cover artist to full-fledged professional recording artist.
On Youtube, there are a flood of cover artists who want to record their original material full-time. The problem is, for many of those artists, their originals are pretty forgettable. You know what I mean – you listen to an original song by a cover artist, and you think it’s decent; you may even like it. But, soon thereafter, the song slips easily from your mind and you’re back to listening to that artist’s covers.
Listening to Adore, on the other hand, made me crave more of Jasmine’s original music, more of the pure Jasmine Thompson artistry and sound. Forget about the covers, I want Jasmine to upload another original as her next video!
With Adore, Jasmine has started the process of becoming identified and defined by her originals. This is how you transition from cover artist to recording artist - by crafting and performing original songs that are so good, your identity as an artist becomes wrapped up and intertwined with originals rather than with covers.
The Jasmine Thompson sound is evolving, forming, coalescing; we are seeing and listening to it grow right before our eyes and ears. I was able to watch one of Jasmine’s live radio sessions on periscope, and I was fortunate enough to listen to her sing another original off her forthcoming EP. I was blown away by the sheer beauty, distinctiveness, and sophistication of that song. Like with Adore, listening to that song made me want to hear more originals.
Of course, we still love Jasmine’s covers, and I am glad she will continue to upload covers on Youtube. But, slowly but surely, Jasmine will become the recording artist who does covers, rather than a cover artist who does originals. And when Jasmine is a fully established star recording artist, we’ll look back to the release of Adore as a defining moment in her career. It’s but the first step, but it is one really gigantic first step.