Karmin - Acapella

The track 'Acapella' comes from American music duo 'Karmin', taken from their upcoming debut studio album Pulses (2013). The funky instrumental-esque track was inspired by movie Pitch Perfect (2012) and features a mix of limited instruments and sounds created by human voices. The song plays on the idea of two lovers in comparison to a musical composition; they used to be a duo and now that the relationship hasn't worked the female vocalist feels as if she should go 'acapella' (alone). The track was written by Amy Heidemann (in white above) and Nick Noonan (blue) as well as Sam Hollander and Martin Johnson, who is also the track's producer. The thematic of the song is that of relationships where someone turns out to be something other than what you originally thought which is expressed through the lyrics sung by Heidemann 'thought you were the perfect lover, all the harmony went falling out of key, so now you gotta find another'. The beat is strangely catchy with the all the clicks, bass and drums and Heidemann's voice is quirky and memorable as she alternates between rapping and traditional singing. She reminds me of Ke$ha in a way, if Ke$ha had a younger sister who is slightly less crazy and had a penchant for painting everything in the same colour. The music video (below) is another wonder to behold: 

The wonderfully colourful music video opens to a man dressed in all green sitting on a green sofa, with a green toaster beside him on a green table putting a...normal piece of a bread in the toaster. Pretty standard right? Cut to white room with background dancers dressed in white and Heidemann and Noonan dressed in blue. Everyone (apart from Heidemann) stands stationary until the bass drops and suddenly everyone jerks out choreographed dance moves in unison. Oh, and there was an image of a blue pumpkin in there too. Intrigued? Confused? What could possibly be next? Boom, Heidemann's now in a room to match her blue attire as she sings about the 'perfect guy', cue toothpaste and more wild dance moves. Oh and bread. To match with the lyrics, of course. 

Now we're onto the 'red' part of the music video. Red car, red haze and red outfits for the duo as Heidemann sings about Olive Garden (the restaurant) and oh look there's some lovely spaghetti and bread rolls. Side order of product placement anyone? Then we find ourselves alternating between a new green landscape with the aforementioned objects at the beginning and everyone dressed in green. This could quite easily be some sort of clothing wear ad. But it's fun. It's a lot of fun - and the duo has cited their inspiration for the video as 90's music videos; particularly a Hype Williams-esque feel and other artists who influenced them were Missy Elliot, TLC and Destiny's Child. 

The group have stated that 'it feels good to create something like this' and that this more accurately represents the Karmin as a whole. Thoughts? Well, if you're a fan of alternative hip hop or synthpop and enjoy this type of instrumental music then there's a good likelihood this will be right up your street. Oh and incase you were wondering what happened to the toast that was placed in the toaster in the beginning of the video, it eventually pops it's way out with a 'dollar sign' burnt onto it. Go figure. Overall, it's a quirky video with interesting beats and tones to the song and the video will certainly leave you beguiled. 

Song and music video reviewed by Mel.