As I was wrapping up the typing for my “Crashing” remix package review – which will be out in a couple of days – the clock in my living room ticked at 1 am and it remembered me today, Friday the 22nd, Illenium’s release greed was about to bless us with “Pray”.
Illenium’s fabled third album is closer than what is thought and maybe “Pray” featuring Kameron Alexander came as the first taste of it.
Illenium’s discography didn’t benefit from the strongest nor the most welcomed additions during the past seven months or so. “God Dammit“, the “Without Me” remix for Halsey, and the pop “Crashing” were fine, lighter tunes that fitted with Illenium’s new line of personal storytelling; it would be a lie to say they completely convinced the audience with their radio-leaning sound.
They didn’t represent the best the Denver musician can compose. Even among the more mellow, future bass directions Illenium has taken, they were outclassed by the melodic bass grandeur and full-on emotional spectacle of “Awake“.
Their predecessor, “Take You Down” fell in line with “Awake” in a lot of aspects. Yet, “Take You Down” had a halo of universal praise that from a – I dare to say – objective standpoint felt unjustified when compared to some of the finest pieces of Illenium’s founding record “Awake”: “Reverie“, “Spirals“, and above all “Afterlife“.
Arriving after these somewhat questionable predecessors, “Pray” feels like picking up where “Gold” had left in the line of powerful and proper dubstep songs. The opening segment sounds straight out of “Awake”, a full package of lead acoustic guitar, soothing vocals, and ear-shattering background drums; the drop execution sounds grand yet agonizing, thanks in particular to the “Rush Over Me” screaming synths, succeeding in latching the present with the 2016 world of “Ashes”.
On the downside, Illenium makes the questionable choice of throwing in the mix this 2017/2019 trend of adding a dubstep or midtempo anticlimax – or rather a momentum trainwreck – after the first melodic drop; it worked with “Gold” but barely ever anywhere else and certainly not here.
Frank Ocean collaborator, Kameron Alexander fails to hook the listener’s attention with his listless vocals in any significant way. The gospel concept had promising potential but the execution feels firmly average. “Leaving” featuring EDEN almost inevitably pops up as a comparison and easily outclasses the younger single.
While failing to spike up its replay value due to production averageness, “Pray” still pulls it off as a strong flagship single for Illenium’s new chapter in 2019 and as more-welcome-than-others addition to Illenium’s discography.
The unstoppable producer is at the sweetest spot in his career after having announced a 2019 album, a Madison Square Garden show, and having sold out soon-to-be three shows at the distinguished Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Can’t wait to see what the future holds in store for Illenium.
What do you think?
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