TOP NEW SONGS: BOTALKS - FUCK IT

"Fuck It" by newcomers BoTalk is surprisingly real and fresh from two reality TV stars and a Swedish producer. It's a testament to what's possible in Pop.

BOTALKS - FUCK IT

You might think that a collaboration from a X-Factor winner from Daytona Beach and a Swedish producer might be the height of artifice. Alex Kinsey and Johan Linbrant even met in Los Angeles, the World Capital of style over substance. You'd be thinking wrong, in the case of "Fuck It," the banging second single from the duo, this timed joined with another reality TV competitor - Caroline Pennell of The Voice.

With this many industry hotshots, including a bonafide X-Factor winner, you'd expect to hear a slice of shiny Pop perfection like vocal contestants like to use for auditioning. You'd be dead wrong, in the case of "Fuck It," (and BoTalk in general.) Even if they're consummate professionals, their methods and motivation are as real as faded denim and a hangover after a night trying to drown the pain in a nightclub.

"Fuck It" tells of a romance gone wrong, with vocalist Caroline Pennell telling the story of love slipping beneath her fingers like the grains of the sand in an hourglass. Alex Kinsey is the response to her call, singing the part of the other lover. This gives "Fuck It" a classic duet feeling, like the old Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood days. "Fuck It" started life as a simple keyboard and guitar sketch from producer Johan Limbrant, same as any bedroom or garage band. What sets them apart is BoTalk refine those sketches into glowing opuses of neon and regret, banging beats and relatable stories.

BoTalk don't try to reinvent the wheel on "Fuck It." The extent to which you dig their most recent single is largely contingent upon how much you emphasize novelty in your listening habits. BoTalk are plying a pretty common take on hip-hop infused future beats/Glitch Hop. Pennell's vocals are chopped to abstraction, which is de rigeur in this post-Grimes world. Linbrant's beats kick like a concussive hand grenade, landing in your chest like a breaking heart. And THAT, my friends, is what separates this wheat from the chaff of impostors. Every element is perfectly placed, polished to pristine perfection, where it can do the most damage. The beats are heavy but still smooth. The vocals are smooth, but still emotive. The melodies are hummable, while still sounding fresh. BoTalk are a testament to what can be done when Pop meets heart. We Are: The Guard firmly approve.

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.