Listen again to ‘Us’, the second single from Sydney trio Movement, and it’s more original
than you first thought. On a base level it stands up in any case, as a smooth slab of
post-club RnB and modern soul, like a James Blake melancholic tribute to love and missed
opportunities. But the dancefloor lingers here more than usual. After 57 seconds of syrupy
vocals and muffled bass notes there’s a subtle drop. It’s not huge, and Movement
don’t seem the types to write brash bangers on any level, but after those 57 sumptuous
seconds the high-hat patters double time,
the bass rises and a synthesiser solos and surges to a vocal break. You’d have trouble dancing
to it any other way than in slow motion,
but the club haunts ‘Us’ all the way home. Unsurprisingly it’s backed by two remixes (a
Technicolor ’80s take from Giraffage and a completely opposite, paranoid glitch rework from Kowtown), but the weight of ‘Us’ lies in
its meticulous mix of RnB and club music.
