London based, Swedish artist Skar De Line is slated to return with a third chapter to what he is referring to as his “autobiographical suite of music” on November 10th for streaming platforms, and on November 17th for the awaited follow-up music video coinciding with chapter one’s “Reset” and chapter two’s “New Silhouettes.”
The new single (AKA the third chapter) is called, “No Eyes in Paradise.” Understanding that is conceptual in nature, both visually and audibly, my approach to capturing the whole experience was to listen audibly first, and then watch the accompanying music videos in order to catch all the concepts. If you haven’t already, I’d say it’s high time you catch up on the saga and take in the anticipated conclusion here:
¡LISTEN NOW “NO EYES IN PARADISE” BY SKAR DE LINE!
“Reset” sets a foundation with what I hear as re-invention of self, as implied by the title. The first line of the song begins starkly with “Every Time I Open my Eyes I Kill… an Old Version of Mine.” Skar De Line’s music is a goulash of hip-hop, hard-hitting beats, alternative rock, and Pop. In that particular opener, it strikes me with vibes of industrial mixed in, Nine Inch Nails-esque at times.
“New Silhouettes” continues the concept with bright synth and upbeat Pop inflections. As that title would indicate, it seems as though his “re-invention” of self was met with invigorating self-confidence and optimism. So where does that leave us with “No Eyes in Paradise?” Interesting to ponder as it seems like the title is somewhat less forthcoming as to what is to be expected as the last two. Let’s deep dive!
This may come off taboo given recent controversies lately, but the opening part of the beat of “No Eyes in Paradise” begins epically in a way that reminds me of the opening of “Dark Fantasy” by Kanye West. If that’s what we still call him, I don’t know. I digress. The point is that the orchestral arrangement, operatic opening gives off a tension spurring anticipation.
Lyrically, Skar De Line delivers some interesting lines to the concept, he extends an offer to come to a “God Damn Paradise” offering that “the only thing I ask for is another pair of eyes.” It’s as if the confidence from the last track still exists but now, he is feeling underappreciated and frustrated with redundancies in futility (“another story left,” “another offer thrown away,” etc.).
The beat is hard hitting, and the overall vibe has a tinge of angst, but still an air of confidence. On the hooks of the song, the delivery reminds me of things like Justin Timberlake. Vocally, Skar De Line’s performance is impressive with many parts of the melody smoothly flowing from chest voice to head voice seamlessly. Really quite pro.
Okay, but what about the video?! That’s again, another element to Skar De Line’s saga that makes the overall experience of these recent releases so interesting. As with the last two, production is very well done. I’ve seen a lot of music videos put out by independent artists and they vary widely in terms of production quality, as it should if you think about it.
It’s not like we all have big budget, over the top film producers at our disposal. However, Skar De Line’s video production is really cut above many in this tier. The video begins in an empty auditorium, signifying the “no eyes” in his paradise. Again, reinforcing what I’m perceiving as a longing for appreciation. Quite impressively, the video recreates many famous painting throughout history such as “The Last Supper,” “The Last Judgement” and “The School of Athens.” Very artistic, very cool!
The end of the video portrays the artist leaving the conceptual paradise and walk out into a dark night. I kind of interpret this as a “back to the drawing board” type of sentiment. Or perhaps, an expansion of the paradise. As if to say, this one is built, I need more eyes, but instead of insisting that the crowd come here to fill the unappreciated auditorium, I am going to build more in the gaps of darkness outside of it. Wow. Pretty profound. That’s my take on it.
Part of what I find exciting about concepts like these are crafting my own projections around them. That’s what’s beautiful about music, isn’t it? When we connect, we internalize it. Thankfully, we were able to also track down some thoughts from the artist as well to add further context:
The lyrics ask questions such as: If we do well, but no one saw what you did, did it really happen? If your life work is something that the world does not care about, what is your life worth? And are there any limits to what we can’t do to get that attention, that worth? All this comes from his mind and his internal struggle with his own nihilism, and the urge to understand himself.
Skar De Line on “No Eyes in Paradise”
I wasn’t too far off at all on my projections! Make sure to keep an eye out for the video coming out November 17th! Get your ears on it early November 10th via streaming! Here’s that pre-save link again:
¡OUT NOW!
Don’t forget to support this project and follow Skar de Line on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify. You can also visit his official website.
It also helps to stream and share his music; you can obviously find it in the following Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Fresh Singles, Indie Only, Alterindie State Of Mind, Sickest & Dopest, and Unknown but Essentials!
.Remember that you can always find me here AMS Radio for all my social media and collaborations.
P.S. If you enjoy discovering new artists and brand-new music you can subscribe to this blog Less Than 1,000 Followers and follow the Playlist with all the artists that we have presented here!
If you enjoy this track don’t forget to give it a green heart when you’re on Spotify and add it to your favorite playlist, this little action not only saves the track on your music library but also will help the artist, you know that the name of the game for us is “support”, thank you!!!
FOR MORE BY SKAR DE LINE CLICK HERE
This coverage was created via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Wow, what a great write-up. As an aside, your output is truly astonishing! You and the others on this site have such incredible energy to crank out so many reviews on a daily basis. Perhaps I’m simply too old, and no longer have the stamina or enthusiasm, not to mention the fact I can no longer focus like I did at a younger age.
My friend, you’re too kind, I appreciate you. We’re really music lovers in the first place (I guess that was out of the question but I have to say it), this is my passion and my work, fortunately, the team that we have is truly outstanding they can talk about music in a way that I only can dream on. I’m about to hit 50 years not sure what’s your age but I feel that can do this forever.