A Leap of Faith: "Hello" by Martin Solveig & Dragonette (Song 2/366 - August 23, 2015)

Song #2: "Hello" by Martin Solveig / Dragonette
Read the Introduction to "A Leap of Faith: 366 Songs in 366 Days"

People can be sadistic when it comes to music. We often love a certain type or genre of music and cannot fathom why anyone would listen to anything else. However, with over one-hundred-thousand albums released annually, the world of music is much more divergent than anyone would or care to imagine. Because of the competition growing, subsets of genre specific music are more common than universal acceptance. I still long for a collective enjoyment and understanding of great records the way Thriller, Jagged Little Pill and Purple Rain once provided. The closest this generation has come to this communal agreement is with Adele's 21. Despite the fact that record sales are not what they used to be does not mean that music is not still exciting. On a trip to Las Vegas a few years back, I walked through Encore en route to the XS nightclub on a Saturday evening. The temperature had finally succumbed to double digits (98 degrees at 1am) and youthful splendor filled the casino before the line into the XS nightclub. Inside was more than just a series of DJ's spinning tunes for the crowd to dance to but a way of life. Love or hate Las Vegas, everyone would stand in awe and astonishment at the interior beauty of the Encore casino. Developed by Steve Wynn and opened in late 2008, it is far above almost any other hotel on the strip. When you enter the hotel, the first sights are of a flower garden whose beauty surpasses your wildest imagination and feels like a scene out of a Tim Burton movie, but it is real, tangible and it will astound you.

I was there for one reason; to see French DJ Martin Solveig work his magic on a crowd wanting to lose control of all their senses. He came to my attention through the battle ready opening drums of his dance smash “Hello”. A contagious and steady piano riff is overlaid with hand claps, busy-signal beats and Martina Sorbara’s (lead singer of Dragonette) illuminating vocals with Solveig’s masterful editing techniques that build into a wailing dance crescendo that makes you want to leap to the sky.
Solveig masterfully executed his set but it does not lend itself to hushed outsiders; the music and magic forces everyone to be a dynamic participant even if your moves are unproven at best. You do not see people like Solveig on your standard television shows in the mainstream but this is his advantage, those who listen and follow him are true believers. Rather than feed the fuel of someone for a moment in time, Solveig and his contemporaries aren't concerned with mass fame, but rather attracting an conscientious audience in the right venue. Songs like "Ready 2 Go" and "Big in Japan" fueled the crowd into dissimilar stages of dizziness but it was when he closed his set with "Hello" that the crowd erupted as a baseball stadium would with a bottom of the ninth inning game winning grand slam. Despite the exclusivity of the nightclub culture and bottle services, clubs like the XS are not just for the wealthy and young. For less than $30, you can enter a collective community. The ambiance is one of intense dedication. Fans swish and swirl their bodies against one another as song after song opens up the dance floor. Ironically, the shared space and mindset reminds me of heavy metal; both feature fans seeking some solace from a world that is bitter and cold and from the music, they find acceptance. Solveig and his unassuming nature engage the crowd more than most performers I have seen. His does not have to try hard to engage, it is simply part of his being. It was such a vitalizing scene, because while Solveig was hard at work, there was an almost serene essence coming off him. There did not appear to be a dividing line between star and audience.

“Hello” does more than inspire dance floor decadence, but is a really brilliant pop song. It makes you move, it adds an extra bounce to your step and makes you forget about the outside world briefly. The bass bursts while the melody leads the way as the crowd dances and marches towards sunrise of Sunday morning. As Solveig spun and weaved the melodic grooves, you find your body moving even if you are not by definition a good dancer. It is not so much about dancing or the stylized moves you can make but it is specifically part of a larger community. DJ's like Martin Solveig do more than merely recreate existing musical landscapes, but journey out into the unknown and reinventing it, taking us along for the ride through our fantasies, desires and dreams.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMUSIC Network. He has covered hundreds of concerts for antiMUSIC for the last several years. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at tonyk AT antiMUSIC DOT com and can be followed on Twitter