Aalvin - Hope For Better

March 18, 2013 Critic Jonni 0 Comments

Aalvin is marked as my 30th follower on Twitter (at the moment) and so becomes the first of my Twitter Followers Special. He is my longest artist follower who has a music video, just behind DixonBeats. Although I have already reviewed DixonBeats' music video "Afraid" that is a collaboration with Dante. Not much is known about Aalvin, but I can tell you this. He is a singer/songwriter, and claims to be from London/New York. His voice is full of soul, creating goosebumps up my arms within seconds. With the right people behind this person we're going to see him in the limelight, but with the wrong people behind him, he'll just be another artist who gave it a go. I'm not quite sure music is ready to give up this soulful voice. "Hope For Better" is taken from his EP 'Never Forger' which is only available on SoundCloud so far.

This music video is simple but emotional, fitting perfectly with everything you would've expected. There is a narrative and a performance side.

The narrative features a couple, who start off on the stairwell reading 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' by Stieg Larsson, which I have read myself, and personally I don't think it's one of those books you'd read together, I would naturally go for a Nicholas Sparks book. The relationship takes a spin for the worse where they start to ignore one another, I love her t-shirt saying 'Don't you want me?', a clever way to use speech without interfering with the song. The ending leaves him going on the Underground while she stays here, but they're smiling so there is hope.

The performance side is also simple, although at the start, the people and the buses and other traffic are put in reverse motion as Aalvin is moving forwards. It suggests he is reflecting on something that happened in the past. Various other scenes are included such as him singing down a payphone, which means he's trying to get a hold of someone, or is possibly asking and hoping for better the next time they meet.

Overall a song that is enriching and pulls at my heart strings at times, that is how powerful his voice is. The music video links perfectly, and has everything I possibly need to give it a high rating. And although I'm desperately trying to find something wrong with this video, I fail in finding it, and so my rating is totally justified and this video clearly deserves it.

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