Life’s most incredible emotions often find a voice in the balladry created by artists unmotivated by paydays and superstardom, and in “Helicopter” by Taylor Jules, pop music fans get a taste of what deeply passionate melodies sound like at their most unblemished. Jules has been building up quite the reputation in the lead-up to this single’s release, and unlike a lot of her peers, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with her life outside the studio.
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Her stylish vocal and highbrow lyricism are as surreal as they can be reverent and intimate when they should be, and with “Helicopter,” which is set to see widespread release closer to the end of this month, she unequivocally confirms her status as one of the premier voices in the American underground, if not the very face of an exciting new brand of indie pop coming out of Los Angeles.
There’s nothing ordinary to be found within “Helicopter” from any of the usual pop music standpoints that comes to my mind. The powerfully arranged piano keys amplify all of the emotive lyrics Jules serenades us with, but they don’t compete for all of our attention here. The master mix blankets us in moderate tones and textures that practically reach through our stereo speakers and embrace us with open arms. Even the rather rambunctious percussive element is a game-changer in some ways; it’s drifting in the shadows just aching to beat its chest like a call of war in either of these choruses.
There’s a rock n’ roll grind to the tempo that catches fire halfway through the song, and it’s punctuated with a soft pop element that gives it a slightly contrasting finish that I wasn’t expecting to hear. With so many layers to be considered when analyzing some of the untold grandeur in this single, it’s no wonder why critics beyond my circles have been raving about what Jules is accomplishing in the studio with this piece. She’s got a talent that is quite rare, to put it mildly, and she’s exploiting it awesomely in every part of this song.
Every detail that comprises the whole of “Helicopter” sparkles when played at a lower or higher volume alike, and if that isn’t enough to keep pop aficionados happy this winter, I don’t know what could be. You couldn’t ask for more compelling melodies than the ones we find guiding the lyrics in this piece, and for my money, it’s a mammoth upgrade from almost anything that you’ll hear coming off of a major label roster at the moment.
We’re living in a special time in the history of pop music; more or less, we’re on the cusp of a lot of new movements inside of this genre that are coming together in myriad ways this year, and it’s artists like Taylor Jules who are at the very forefront of all the excitement. Her strain of soulful, rocking pop music is a force to be reckoned with, and behind singles like “Helicopter,” it has the potential to take her into primetime for sure.
Claire Uebelacker