‘She Says’ is quite the stunning song. Hypnotic, lush, yet skeletal, pulling, and trippy. The Sweet Darkness in all his psychedelic, groovy, detuned glory.
The Sweet Darkness is the stage name for Gordon Gilette, a producer and musician based in the central German town of Helmstedt. A musical veteran, The Sweet Darkness has been putting his heart into his songs for years, and has become known for a particular sound that he displays on ‘She Says’, kicking it up a couple of notches.
With a solid, deep-pocketed groove, a sludgy tempo and a hard-hitting choice of drum kit, the song’s borderline-trap beat is a delicious complement to the song’s hazy composition, with its hypnotizing bass line, The Sweet Darkness’s usual, understated and steady delivery, and the song’s quite phenomenal detuned piano line. Quite thin, playing a single note that’s.. well.. detuned, this simplistic line on its own is a testament to the man’s creativity. You don’t need a lot of something to make it effective, you just need to use it right and put it exclusively where it belongs. Gordon Gilette knows this, works by it, and it makes ‘She Says’ one terrific earworm.
A solidly produced piece of pop with a drunken edge, ‘She Says’ is one of the most engaging listens that I’ve had for a long time. And all because of a single, well-placed whimsical note, and the truly creative mind behind it.