Irish pop singer, Daniel Cohen, follows in the footsteps of many as he takes on the classic Diana Ross song “Chain Reaction”. His personal take on the song features an extended bridge section and more subdued vocal performance that leans into the easy-going nature of the swung pop beat.
Along with a music video to accompany the release, Cohen takes a decidedly less-is-more approach to the iconic 1985 song as we watch him walk through city streets singing directly into the camera. This is in stark contrast to the high production values of the original music video which uses pyrotechnics, lush set designs and lighting, and tons of video editing to achieve something more fantastical and glamorous. Occasionally with Cohen, we get a nonchalant gesture or shift in camera angle, but they are fleeting as he continues to ease on down the road.
As the fizzy and constant bass pulses through the foundation of the song, his theatrical vocals percolate on top of it adding to the buoyant and bouncy feel. And though the video ends rather abruptly with a smash cut to black in the middle of the final chorus, there’s something easy-breezy about the video that feels calming like a warm summer’s day that goes unbroken up to that point.
There’s something to be said here about how covering a song needn’t be an exact copy of the original to achieve a specific effect – to encapsulate how the song makes you feel when you listen to it, and that’s what Cohen has done here. He channels and spreads the joy and wonder of the original by bringing it with him on a walk, which may seem mundane, but feels refreshing.
“Chain Reaction” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The accompanying music video is also available on YouTube. Find this and more excellent music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify and YouTube.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
