Slow-churning but slicker than most anything else I’ve heard out of the underground lately, the beats that define the mood of the music in “The Coronavirus,” Darrell Kelley’s latest single, are by far the most evocative component to behold in this white-hot track from the acclaimed indie R&B crooner (which is saying a lot considering Kelley’s immense skill as a singer). While “The Coronavirus” is perhaps one of the more lyrically-focused compositions that Darrell Kelley has released in the last two years, it’s undeniably sporting some of the smoothest instrumental faceting of any song he’s ever cut, and though he’s coming up against some amazing competition in both the underground and the mainstream right now, producing material like this will be what ultimately puts his brand over the top in the long run.
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The groove here isn’t driven by the drums alone; in fact, I actually think that the percussion takes a backseat to the bassline in a couple of cornerstone moments in the arrangement with regards to establishing emotionality behind the narrative. The bass is definitely as essential to creating a sense of sonic depth in “The Coronavirus” as any other element in the mix is, and to some extent, I think Kelley was really brilliant in avoiding the temptation to overindulge in external fluff when producing this track. By choosing to take a liberal approach to the organic points in this song, he not only sets his modus operandi apart from the competition, but further distinguishes his sound from the scores of other R&B players coming out of the woodwork in 2020.
Lyrically, there are no enigmas in “The Coronavirus” – this is literally a song that was conceived with the intention of both raising awareness and giving people something sweet to jam to between the cramped hours spent in front of the computer working from home and the pseudo downtime that frequently involves mundane household chores and cringe worthy sit-downs with a national news media that resembles something that would air after midnight on Adult Swim more and more every day. As I see it, what makes Kelley’s latest single a hit has almost nothing to do with the structure of its narrative, nor the addictiveness of its hook, and almost everything to do with the provocatively stylish fashion in which it makes anyone listening forget about the chaos in the world around them.
I wasn’t following Darrell Kelley’s musical output very closely before now, but after getting a taste of the sweeping grooves that are in store for anyone who gets ahold of “The Coronavirus” this spring, I’m definitely planning on staying tuned to his camp’s dispatches in the future. Kelley doesn’t ask a whole lot out of his audience in exchange for a slew of grandiose beats and seductive harmonies that could turn anyone into a fan of his sound here, and while I’ve been listening to a lot of premium R&B in the last few months, his is a single that I would rank among the best to come out of his scene this year.
Jodi Marxbury
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