“Pretty Cry” single by Sherman de Vries

The last six months have produced some remarkably solid R&B out of both the mainstream and the underground, but few tracks have deserved the kind of buzz that “Pretty Cry,” the brand new single from Sherman de Vries, has been getting since its lauded debut this August. Built on the foundation of a sterling groove that only grows more intense as we sink deeper into the throes of the song’s romantic melodies, “Pretty Cry” is an ambitiously dexterous offering from de Vries, who has never shrunk from a challenge in the studio and continues to evolve his stunningly sexy sound in this latest effort. The beats in this song are rock-hard, but its harmonies are perhaps some of the most graceful I’ve listened to all summer long.

SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/shermandevries/sherman-de-vries-pretty-cry

From a poetic perspective, I don’t know that Sherman De Vries has ever been as raw as he is with us in “Pretty Cry,” and it’s definitely a side of his artistry that I would like to hear him explore a little more in the future. He’s got so much to get off of his chest in this track, and although he utilizes a muted execution style that leaves it up to the audience to fill in a lot of the blanks within his enigmatic verses, none of his lines feel suffocated by some hidden desire to fit in with a contemporary trend. De Vries isn’t holding anything back from us here; if anything, he’s sharing a part of himself that he was reticent about exposing prior to this stage of his career.

In the chorus, de Vries’ falsetto cuts through the fabric of the instrumental melody in the background and contributes an organic emotionality to this song that I honestly haven’t found in any of the other pop tracks that I’ve reviewed this season. Just in the last year alone, he’s grown into his voice so much, and I think that he’s going to get a lot more attention from the press because of it. When you’ve got a talent as boundless as his is, you don’t have to add a lot of embellishments into a breakout single to make it shine, and Sherman de Vries was quite wise to avoid any and all temptations to overindulge in his lustiest aesthetical attributes during the making of “Pretty Cry.” His rivals could stand to learn a thing or two from his disciplined attitude, and that’s putting it very mildly.

MUSIC X-RAY: http://www.musicxray.com/xrays/2396375

Those who live for endearing urban pop with a sensuous pulse need to hear this track before the month of August comes to a close. Aside from the fact that it comes to us from an artist who is on the cusp of meeting his full potential, it features what amounts to one of the most intoxicating harmonies that you’re going to hear from an independent songwriter this summer (and possibly one of the best beat patterns of his discography to date). “Pretty Cry” is Sherman de Vries at his most vulnerable, but more importantly than that, it’s an unfiltered, uncorrupted look into the future of his music and the scene that gave birth to his sound.

Mindy McCall

The music of SHERMAN DE VRIES has been heard all over the world due to the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Records. Learn more – https://musikandfilm.com