Music Review: Krewella "Alive"

Krewella

Alive

Album: Play Hard

Year: 2013

            A fifteen second glance with a stranger changes an evening for Jahan Yousaf in  the lonely “Alive.”

            An inquisitive piano opens the single, setting an intrigued tone. Not many people’s eyes can grab her. However, while she was standing in line, waiting to order another drink, she was looking around the bar. She stopped at a young man who put his head down when she saw him, keeping his eyes at an even level, as though he was willing himself to not see her. Within the fifteen seconds, she wondered who he was and what his interests were. She gave the bartender her order, craning her neck to view him in the crowd again. After paying the bartender, she finds him near the stage. She tells him moments like they just had do not happen all the time. It’s an emotion they need to act on now. Whether or not they choose to figure out the meaning behind their glance, it will impact their lives. Not knowing clears away the fear, leaving the possibilities clean of any doubt. (“Let's make this fleeting moment last forever/So, tell me what you're waiting for?/I'm gonna keep it frozen here forever/There's no regretting anymore/It's worth the wait, even so far away/I'm making the night mine until the day I die/No lights to brake when you're hanging by fate/You know what it feels like when you're dancing blind.”)

             In the pre-chorus, passion has been absent in her life. She wants to spend the night with him, discovering what she’s been missing. She’ll be free, finally seeing her future. (“All alone, just the beat inside my soul/Take me home, where my dreams are made of gold/In the zone where the beat is uncontrolled.”)

             She wants him to help her see the world in a new way. (“I know what it feels like/Come on make me feel alive/Feel alive, feel alive/Feel alive, feel alive/Feel alive, feel alive alive alive alive/Alive.”)

         She points to the front of the bar, where the laser lights are bouncing off the corners and tells him to she’ll be over there. For three years, she has frequented the bar, hoping for something to stun her, closing the void inside her. With only a playful grin on her face, he can crack her up. He notices her dabbing at her eyes with a tissue and wants to know what’s wrong. She tells him that only she’s enjoying being with him. There’s a reason to be happy and not trying to pretend what the emotion she feel. (“Meet me under shining lights/I've been waiting right here all my life/Feelings you can't deny that you're living, open up your eyes/And I just wanna sink into your crazy laughter/Come on make me feel until the pain don't matter/Every second here makes my heart beat faster/Finally think I found what I'm chasing after.”)

            The pre-chorus and chorus are sung twice.

              The chorus is sung once more to end the single.

           Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf’s chaste, comely vocals are leery, its worries and fears strapped tightly to its side. One false move could end the joy and it may not ever be found again. A quick second of bravery can’t overcome a lifetime’s worth of insecurity.

              The sheepish “Alive” pokes out of its shell but doesn’t ever take a step forward.