David Bennet is one of my favourite music YouTubers. In fact, with more than a million subscribers, he’s one of YouTube’s favourite music YouTubers.
His pop music analysis videos are just at the right level for people like me – and since you’re reading this, likely people like you, too – in that they are best appreciated by those with a modest but firm background in music, an appreciation for smart pop, and a love of analyzing things.
He’s discussed songs that use different modes. Songs that use different time signatures. And just about every aspect of The Beatles that you could hope to dissect.
It’s all done with a delivery that is distinctly and refreshingly free of the condescending know-it-all tone that characterises too many music critics. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of that tone; he sounds like the smart kid at the back of the lecture hall who’s been called on by the professor to answer a question because the professor thinks the kid hasn’t been paying attention, but who then proceeds to deliver an answer which, rather apologetically, points out the errors in the professor’s analysis.
His recent release The Sea in July proves that Bennett does more than talk the talk. The songs on this fleetingly brief but satisfying EP balance accessibility and originality in a way that fits perfectly with the music he so enthusiastically analyses on his channel.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The main chord progression he plays is just straightforward enough to be immediately catchy, but with just enough syncopation and suspended notes to get more delicious with each successive listen. (Side note: check the lyrics to this track on Bandcamp and you will see that Bennett has included the chord changes in the lyrics, which is the most David Bennett thing imaginable, and I love it.)
2. The vocals, by Chris Matthewson, have the fluttering falsetto and semi-sloppy articulation of Thom Yorke, one of Bennett’s most-analyzed singers.
3. The song’s climax comes not with a rush of percussion or an oversaturation of strings, but with the stunning layered vocals that sweep in at about 2:30.
Recommended listening activity:
Making breakfast while imagining a YouTube voiceover that makes your kitchen skills seem more genius than they are.