"Hideaway" by Kiesza - Pop Song Review

**Edited on 9/22/14 for spelling and grammar. Added music video in the video discussion.

Pop radio is an interesting position recently. With the success of songs such as Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be” and Disclosure’s “Latch” we have seen an explosion of 90s influence dance music in the UK doing extremely well and crossing over to the other side of the Atlantic.  Kiesza’s “Hideaway” seems to be another experiment in seeing if the United States is interested in  90s eurodance again.  

Much too popular belief Kiesza is a Canadian artist and not a UK artist.  I was concern because Canadian pop artists, in my opinion are making the worst pop music. 

MAGIC! 

  or this guy 

Drake

Kiesza’s “Hideaway” is a fascinating track in the pop music landscape. It features this throwback 90s eurodance sound that is incredibly bouncy and fun. The warp sounds before the chorus is well timed to keep the song trendy with current dance music.  The instrumental takes inspiration from  club artists of the 90s like Real McCoy, La Bouche, and Robin S. Overall I like the beat work however the drop before the first chorus seems unnecessary as it slows down the song. 

Kiesza’s performance vocally is pretty good on this track. Her vocals rise about the 90s dance bass which seems to be her main competitor on this track.  My only grip vocally is the chorus; it is a little underwhelming.  Here is a sample of chorus below.

“Baby, I love the way that there’s nothing sure

 Baby, don’t stop me, hideaway with some more

 Ooh aah, aah, ooh, ooh, aah, aah, ooh, ooh, aah, aah, ooh, ooh, aah”

Kiesza is able to perform the first two lines of the pre chorus extremely well with her vocal range and I applaud her for that. The “ooh(s), aah(s)” part really determines if you like this song or not. It seems to be drowned out by the instrumental. Part of that inspiration comes from the earworm song Witch Doctor’s made  called “Ooh Eeh Ooh AhAah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing” . Witch Doctor should be in infamous hall of fame for the ungodly catchy earworms in pop music, but I digress.

 

Lyrically Kiesza’s “Hideaway” what is it about? In the beginning of the song she sings about her stresses in her life. They have become so unbearable that she needs to escape to her hideaway.  I imagined her hideaway looks like something like this. 

The song was pretty rush according to the Wikipedia page. It was written in a half hour after she heard a rough demo of the beat. Some of the lyrics in the song are captivating.  Particularly these lines below jump out to me. 

 

“You're just a hideaway, you're just a feeling
You let my heart escape, beyond the meaning”

 

In this instance she mentions a guy that she is only interested in sex to escape her real life problems ;however, she may be interested in more as the song continues.

 

“Not even I can't find a way to stop the storm
Oh baby, it's out of my control, it's going home
But you're just a chance I take to keep on dreaming”

 

I like the storm metaphor as it applies that her problems. It could understood as a tornado that is always behind you ,increasing in size with each additional problem.

 

“You send me the shiver and the spine that might overflow
You're bringing me closer to the edge, I'm letting go”

 

It seems later on in verse two that she is taking more risks in her life. The result causes  her to go the hideaway a little more often ,but apparently feels very safe with this guy.   

 

The music video for this song is quite impressive.  It was film in New York City in a one take style with choreograph dance routines.  At 0:55 mark though these weird guys keep staring at Kiesza which is distracting in the upper left hand corner.

Dude what is going on? Those dance moves are ridiculous. 

Kiesza takes inspiration from the early 80s herself and uses an early Madonna look throughout the video.  At the 2:04 she almost gets run over by a skateboarder ,which I can relate too ,since those guys can pack some damage. My foot still hurts from an incident at State College.

Dude, WTH?

 

Kiesza’s is an interesting position with this song. I don’t foresee it becoming a bigger hit than it is currently; as she could be another one hit wonder of 2014.  Pop radio has been more receptive to playing UK pop hits recently so maybe there is a chance. Her follow up hit "Giant in my Heart" is doing okay in the UK (#6) but failing in other countries.  "Hideaway"  is in the 30s on iTunes and pop radio number seventeen (#17) most played songs. The song has peaked at number 60 on the hot 100.  The music video and performances on late night television she has done; have really made this a moderate pop hit, but not a smash in the USA. The Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman performances are pretty good go check them out.

 

 

Final score: (3.5/5)

 

Lyrics: Decent lyrics for a pop song and it is a topic not many talk about.

Beat: Stands out on pop radio for sure and I appreciate 90s throwback sound.

Memorable: Not particularly I think most people will forget this song in about 3 or 4 months.

Video:  Entertaining and shows off awesome dance moves and no unnecessary butt shots. (ahem Nicki Minaj)

 

Final thoughts:  I like her as an artist vocally and I like to see her escape the one hit wonder label, but fighting against lesser artists acts with preteen audiences is tough. 

Rixton

5 Seconds of Summer. "Hey guys do I smell good or what?" Nope you have B.O.