VoicePlay & Street Corner Symphony - Don't (Ed Sheeran cover)

Get tickets for the singoff tour here (external site)

Ed Sheeran is everywhere isn't he? I mean literally. I'm pretty sure I saw him picking out broccoli at the local budget supermarket on Saturday. His second album X can't stay away from the top of the album charts here or in the US and he has 3 current UK top 40 singles (including 2 chart toppers) and 2 current US Billboard 100 smashes. All this is absolutely fine by the way because a) despite him purloining the musical style of Jason Mraz circa Wordplay/Geek In The Pink era he is a jolly decent fella with some jolly fine music and b) he's not Sam Smith who is really irritating me right now. This post, however, isn't about Ed Sheeran per se - it's about my beloved VoicePlay teaming up with Street Corner Symphony for an acapella-tastic take on his ear-worm Don't. It's all to promote their current Sing Off Tour (see website link at top of this post) as both bands have participated in the show during it's life cycle and continue to be hugely popular. I've written about VoicePlay A LOT (see here) and you can read a bio of Street Corner Symphony at the bottom of this post - their teaming demonstrates several elements it takes to dominate the aca world with their pop sensibilities...

• INNOVATORS ~ It's not enough anymore to just stimulate the aural senses. In this world of social media saturation there has to be a visual hook too - VoicePlay have always excelled at this and the flawless flow between both groups in the video above really does create an amicable yet tangible sing-off vibe between the 11 gents. It's not just the back-forth nature either, ACA (to me) is always about the performers letting the music infuse their entire being and watching their bodies and facial expressions react to this. Here it is entirely compelling viewing. Better than a season pass to Jane The Virgin...
• COMPOSERS ~ There is no pre-recorded backing track when the music is created just by the sheer ingenuity of vocal sound and mouth movement. Firstly, it's not easy to do (trust me I've tried and I just sound like a constipated chipmunk. Call me fellas if you ever need that on one of your tracks). Secondly it requires crafting the whole backing score from scratch which can be a tricky complex process. Each group provides the percussion, the rhythm, the bassline required to make it sound fully formed whilst infusing the lyrical side with vibrant personality that's hard to resist. Here it's as if they are issuing the warning nature of Ed's words to each other as they trade vocals back and forth. Like a less dancey West Side Story...
• COLLABORATORS ~ VoicePlay have always played well with others. It's the putting aside of ego to further a combined passion - as well as the potential to attract new fans along the way. There is a refreshing sharing of spotlight on talent between Street Corner Symphony and VoicePlay on this track. Each group brings these intriguing sonant acrobatics that showcase their own individual tricks as well as enhance the playful nature of their joint performance. It really is a joy to behold and even occasionally jaw dropping in it's magnificence :D
• MAGICIANS ~ There are no rabbits pulled out of hats. No glamorous assistants being sawed in half. None of the guys tied up in chains and strait jackets only to get miraculously free minutes later (not without a safe word anyway, right lads?! :D) There's no theatrical magic in this yet everything about the combined presence and delivery of the song has a little sprinkling of it's own musical magic about it - that je ne sais quoi that leaves you giddy for more at the end of the song. Luckily Earl and the guy with the amazing side parting from SCS (how rude I don't know his name) are present at the end of the clip to give you all the information you need to discover more. Hurrah! It's like going to Hollywood Studios after a day of Magic Kingdown...
• EYE CANDY ~ something for the ladeez and fella loving fellas out there. Changes on an almost hour by hour basis but as of this second is clearly Geoff (VoicePlay, bottom left of your screen) and the SCS dude in the white tank top - centre back. Again, rudeness for not knowing names.

Now go, enjoy, repeat, buy and love. You know you want to...

More about Street Corner Symphony...

"Street Corner Symphony are a 6-man cappella group from Nashville TN. They came to international notoriety in 2010 when they became runners up on NBC's The Sing-Off. Since then, the men of SCS have performed around the world, giving benefits, clinics, and concerts, as well as recording two full albums and numerous singles. The six men of Street Corner Symphony are Adam Chance, Mark McLemore, and Kurt Zimmerman, along with brothers Jeremy, Jonathan, and Richie Lister. As experts in multiple styles of music, SCS are comfortable moving between most any genre of music, appealing to young and old alike."