“Villain” is the latest single by Darrian Gerard, an outstanding Canadian singer-songwriter. It’s her first track in 2024, serving as a follow-up to several excellent tracks released last year. Lyrically, “Villain” is an antihero anthem, dealing with being a bad person by putting yourself before other people’s needs. It’s a relatable, introspective song that will resonate with the broader auditorium. Soundwise, Darrian Gerard explores many different but complementary music genres to illustrate such rich and luxurious sonic imagery. Perhaps pop-punk comes to mind first, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of the finest properties borrowed from skater rock, indie rock, alternative, emo, and pop. She uses all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift her latest track on an entirely new level while staying loyal to the primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with different but complementary styles resulted in a catchy song that will appeal to anyone even remotely into the mentioned genres and beyond.
As soon as you press play, you’ll notice how Darrian Gerard‘s exceptional vocal performance commands attention and guides you on a mesmerizing pop-punk voyage. Her impressive vocal range balances between low, mid, and high notes with such ease, emphasizing all the segments and instrumentations. Besides her tremendous vocal abilities, Gerard is also an experienced guitar player. She cleverly assembled all the catchy, hypnotic, addictive, ear-appealing chord progressions and riffs, which serve as more than a necessary backdrop for all the vocal maneuvers. The generous servings of fuzz distortion provide more rawness, abrasiveness, and dirtiness to the mix, so this composition has modern grunge properties too. It’s nearly mindblowing how vocals and guitar match together harmoniously.
Darrian Gerard also thought about the rhythm section, so you’ll notice how the equally intricate, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines roar right beneath those thick guitar layers, offering heaviness, clarity, and depth. The excellent drumming performance keeps everything in line and dictates groove and tempo with energetic, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. Every instrument plays a significant role in this sonic equation, so listening pleasure is more than guaranteed. From marvelous vocals and catchy riffs to complex low-ends and groovy drumming, Darrian Gerard thought about even the tiniest details and nuances while assembling her latest song. “Villain” is a perfect modern pop-punk anthem, with many brilliant ideas and exceptional musicianship invested in it. She poured all her knowledge, experience, skills, and talent into it, and her efforts resulted in one of the best pop-punk tracks this year. You should check it out as soon as possible because it will instantly become a staple on your playlist. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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