Xander Moon “Hi - Fives”
“Hi - Fives” tells an epic story about love, the type that shakes your root, the kind of experience that heals and transforms. Like all the greatest love stories you’ve heard and seen, the hauntingly beautiful tune has a tint of melancholia, unshakable in its sonics, while splashing the most flamboyant colors.
From the nostalgic piano backdrop as if walking straight from an 90s’ rap song to funky bass, Afro beats to cinematic 80s’ vibe and a hint of hip hop, R&B and soul wonderfully woven together, Xander Moon paints a diverse and unusual music landscape in “Hi - Fives.” It doesn’t sound like an intentional choice but rather an organic occurrence because the way each elements are brought up so seamlessly being the natural expression at the right moment.
“Hi - Fives” is inspired and stimulating with stunning and poised melodies flowing through and out. The hook is so effortless yet grand. Every time it comes back, it gives you goosebumps, similarly impactful as a mic drop. It just hits something in you that you don’t yet fully understand. Xander Moon’s falsetto is tastefully handled, adding a bit of emotional highlight as the song dives deeper into its storytelling.
The echoing, the delayed voice of the vocals create a sort of dazed, illusive and overwhelming feeling that gives the song a very different feeling. This idea later evolves in the song in a more chaotic manner that almost sounds like the voices of others or those in your heads. It’s simply fantastic and adds another layer to its storytelling.
The track ends on a theatrical vocal duo, poetically fading away, so graceful and gradual. It leaves you longing, like nostalgia, a wish for it to continue or a wish for it to come back, which echos the theme. Xander Moon’s music is always unexpected and he leaves you in awe. His music is very hard-hitting and impressionistic that it seems to remind you of so many familiar, iconic acts in the last 50 years while at the same time can’t be pinned down to names. As an artist, he’s not to be defined but creating an experience, an expression that feels true to himself.
