Single Selection: Andrew Allen ~ Play With Fire

I confess, I mostly knew about Andrew Allen from his sparkling pop duet with Carly Rae Jepsen (of Part Of Your World on new Little Mermaid blu-ray fame :D). Entitled "Where Did We Go" and released last year, I then described Andrew as "a handsome face, a fine pair of guns and some rocking tattoos... and producing some of the most lovely music I've heard this year" and that song as a "percussive rhythmic groove, glorious piano melody... & a huge singalong memorable chorus". I wasn't wrong in any of those descriptions and have recently fallen hard for his magnificent new single Play With Fire. It's pretty easy to fall in love with any song that starts with mellifluous acoustic guitar, tropical island chimes and a handclap beat - indicating that this may well be a jolly uplifting tune. Well, it is and it isn't. It's actually a song about the love of your life taking what seems like a promising relationship & throwing it all away for some playing away type fun. Not fun - no-one likes their heart ripped out their chest, thrown on the floor and stomped on for the world to see. This is brilliantly represented in the almost nonchalant refrain of "you ask if we're cool, I reply we're magnificent/you stomped on my heart, don't pretend that your innocent" - and sums up the genius perspicacity of this song perfectly. Yes, poor Andrew has been betrayed and hurt - and is all too aware of how wonderful this love could have been; this shows in the almost detached nature of the lyrics above where he refuses to allow himself to be beaten down by this. In the way he lyrically (and the way he sings those lyrics - brilliantly nuanced to bring them into vivid focus) places the responsibility onto his girl, there's an element of self preservation that we all cling to. But the song isn't all blue - there are clever composition moments that give you hope that our fella will be a-ok in the end; most notably in the huge crescendo of sound & percussion in the chorus and his voice is fueled by passion & emotion. And the repetition of the refrain towards the end of the song is a cathartic chant that anyone who's been cheated on will channel & emerge stronger at the end. And ultimately that's what this song does - gives you a peppy, galloping instrumental to vent your feelings, another huge singalong chorus and allows you to get lost in Andrew's glorious and engaging vocals. So yes, it's a downer of a subject but once the song is through you feel oh so much better for it. Hurrah then for Andrew Allen. I'm hoping there's a new album on the horizon full of ace gems like this :)