In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are today’s musicians who champion an art form that’s more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music created by unfamiliar faces because it’s challenging. We’d rather have an easy listen, a known quantity to skim through while we think about something else.
Hearing is easy, but listening is difficult. Welcome to “Why We Like It”, where we rebuke the trends in favor of thoughtful analysis and underknown sounds.
“Turn It Around” — Yes Please
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How We Found It
It’s always the same when somebody sidles into our SubmitHub inbox, but I’d like to imagine that Yes Please – the duo of apob and Matt Miggz – strolled in two abreast, their disposition as sunny as “Turn It Around” itself.
Walking a line that blends R&B, funk and pop, the pair have been impressively prolific, turning out eight singles, one EP and their new debut album, Updog, in the last year-and-a-half. Their unique personal playlists give us a little insight into the coalescing sounds – apobs bobs count Tame, Sly, Etta, Toro and Phony Ppl amongst them, whilst the Miggztape cuts through PND, Keef, NSYNC, Freeway and SahBabii. That speaks to the range of Yes Please’s influences, but it doesn’t nail down the mood of “Turn it Around,” which hits a little like Mac Ayres meeting OverDoz halfway.
Why We Like It
“Turn It Around” is undeniable: the verses are as breezy as they are refined, the production as unobtrusive as it is intricate, and the chorus as catchy as it is charismatic. There’s a real swinging confidence to the vocals, which hit with the poise of JT, albeit more reserved. It’s something like walking into a bar, placing an elbow on the bar and summoning a scotch on the rocks with little more than an open palm. You know – this, but cooler in every possible way.
Yes Please is a real meeting of the minds, melding the talents of apod and Matt Miggz in a mishmash of genre and influence that prizes accessibility, danceability and celebration. The tracks are brisk and largely upbeat, their guitar a signature sound atop the sometimes laid back R&B bases and occasionally tinkering hip-hop infusions. “Turn It Around” moves with a mean precision, the verse segueing into a simmering pre-chorus that bursts forth into Miggz’ confident and convincing delivery. It’s so much more than just the voice here – apob’s production complements the performance perfectly, breaking the track into tight focal points that spotlight his presence. It’s hardly surprising that he’s been in the lab with Aminé.
Why do we like Yes Please? They’re a creative collaboration firing on all cylinders, and this track – not even one of the four singles from their recent debut, Updog – speaks to that hit rate. If “Turn It Around” has taught us anything, it’s that we’ve yet to hear the last from this duo. Would I be open to hearing more from apob and Miggz?
Don’t make me say it. The joke is too beneath me.
From The Artist
Yes Please was both of our dreams – to come together and finally put out this album is really exciting. Throughout the creation process I think we discovered more about what we want musically as well. We each have unique skills that are applied differently on each song. ‘Turn it Around’ first started when Miggz sent apob an idea at like 2 am that was a topline with some added drums on one of apob’s samples. When we are at a good place we come together and go over lyrics, melodies and concept, lock it down and record! Then apob spends time on vocal processing and stitching the vocals in with the rest of the arrangement while Miggz will usually start writing again to another idea.” – apob for CentralSauce (2020)
More From The Artists
All of Yes Please’s singles, with the exception of “Priceless,” have been taken from their two projects: two from 2019’s Good Manners, Bad Taste EP, and five from their recent debut album, Updog. “Bikini Bottom” and “Half Nelson” have found the most success, which isn’t all that surprising on hearing them – if you enjoyed “Turn It Around,” you really shouldn’t leave those links blue.
You can keep up with Yes Please on Twitter and Instagram, as well as the lives and times of the two artists who comprise it – Matt Miggz, who’s on Insta and Twitter, and apob, who’s much the same.
More to Discover
Subscribe to the CentralSauce mailing list so you never miss out on the freshest sauce. Check out this continuously updated playlist of songs Conor has added to our Discovery section! Each track or artist has been featured in our “Why We Like It” section, so be sure to check out the page here on the site.
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