Someone - 'Pull It Together'

Photo Credit: Bibian Bingen

Amsterdam-based artist Someone’s new single ‘Pull It Together’ sounds like a psychedelic, sun-drenched future soundtrack to a feel-good sporting montage.

When does art stop and pop begin? What really merges the two together? If pop music is designed to sell, can it really be considered art? Or is art itself the expression the artist makes or the impression it leaves on the consumer? Is art something you can claim to offer or is it something that is only thrust upon you, like authenticity or greatness. Either way, to proclaim your music as "Art Pop Art"  is ambitious to say the least. And after just one listen to ‘Pull It Together’, ambitious is something you can confirm Tessa Rose Jackson most definitely is. Her project Someone is a "multi-disciplinary artist, releasing art and music under the same name". Which brings me to my original question. Whilst there is no doubting Jackson's verve, mystery and creativity - but does it all come together as some sort of perfectly realised vision or is it simply a well intended mess?

Well, the song is miles off being a mess; ‘Pull It Together’ is an epic, melodic squelch of a psychedelic pop nugget. The distant vibes of Tame Impala's coastal Australian acid-tinged dream world echo all throughout the song - the chorus is almost exactly what Tame Impala’s ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ would sound like if it was written for Tame Impala’s album ‘Currents’, rather than ‘Lonerism’. But obviously, you've got to take into account an epic Arcade Fire style bridge and a singalong so catchy it's almost as if the BBC scientifically took the DNA from The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’ and Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’ to make another triumphant soundtrack to the montage featured at the end of the next Olympics.

The epic stage is a difficult one to tread without sounding like fucking Bon Jovi sometimes. But Someone's tasteful blend of swelling pads and jittery beeps give this song a personality to suit its scale. It takes some kind of genius to make the phrase "I don't know why I can't pull it together" sound upbeat. But of course in some ways, it is. Someone takes the everyday feeling of not knowing what the fuck is going on and translates it in such a way that it unites - the way this chorus will go down come festival season will be undeniable. That might not be the point of Jackson's art, but who cares? She's onto something.

Words of James Kitchen

’Pull It Together’ is out now via [PIAS] Recordings ahead of Someone’s upcoming EP ‘Orbit’.