Singer/songwriter Calvyn Cass strikes gold yet again this year with his single “You Always”. Following his melancholic but effective single “White Flag”, Cass trades the downtempo track for something with a bit more energy but doesn’t compromise the scathing and intelligent lyricism that made “White Flag” equally memorable. In a way, it’s almost like a sequel to the single with Cass having gone through the tries and tribulations of the relationship he compromised himself for, and from listening to the song, you can’t exactly assume it was a good one. I love that it’s clearly an EDM song with a tight narrative.
It’s atmospheric and poppy and engaging, but you feel the weight of its pathos and so much of that comes from Cass as a performer who truly raps into his best abilities, especially hitting some delightful high notes in the chorus sections as the song builds. It’s not always flawless, and even as a relatively quick song, it can be a bit of a slow burn to get to the real fireworks of a finale, but I assume that’s a deliberate choice to really let us feel the hurt and weight that Cass himself felt. The song takes a slightly different context when you know a little bit about Cass’s background as someone who has very closeted formerly in their sexuality and having moved from Canada to South America when they were younger, it only made things harder to really be able to express who they are.
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The song is very much a romantic sense breakup song, a sort of “oh, fuck you” kind of ballad as it evolves towards the end, but there’s plenty of interpretation to extend since the core conceit of the song and its use of “You Always Said You’d Love Me” has a very elastic meaning that could extend towards any loved one that rejected or betrayed you. Whether or not that was by design is neither here nor there, but it’s an aspect of the song that can be inferred and I think makes it even stronger. Cass is someone who finds strength in their weakness and puts it out their sonically with a rich texture and has made something that can be enjoyed on the dance floor as much as it can be enjoyed intimately in just our headphones. I’m very curious to see what kind of grand vision Cass has as he puts together an album of the various releases that he’s had. Specificity in music is at an all-time high, and I can very easily see him amassing a large and consistent following who are deeply entranced by the stories he’s aiming to tell.
He doesn’t sugar coat it, but he takes the lemons and makes lemonade. I don’t know if this will convert someone into an all-out pop fan, but it’s a great place to start and truthfully, I’d love to even hear Cass dabble in the burgeoning genre of Hyper Pop we’re hearing. You can hear “You Always” on most major streaming platforms.
Jodi Marxbury