“You Know Me” from Now Endeavor

In pop music almost exclusively, the biggest of charms tend to come in small packaging, and this is definitely true of the short and simple single “You Know Me” from Now Endeavor. Constructed around a basic hook with frilly harmonies that surround it, “You Know Me” is only about two and a half minutes long – but it uses every second of its playing time to spellbind just about anyone within earshot of its melodies. Now Endeavor represent Motown’s new wave of R&B groups brilliantly here, and while they’re not the only duo in their scene worth taking note of, they’ve got the hottest single around this summer. 

Official Website: https://www.nowendeavor.com/

There isn’t any bassline brutality for us to get around in “You Know Me,” but the swing between the choruses is heavy enough to compensate for the missing beefiness. The collective physicality is a lot more evocative than a penetrative bottom-end would have been, if you’re looking at the song through an ambient lens that is, but in either case, I think a lean n’ mean look tends to serve Now Endeavor’s sound best regardless. They’ve had time to find their identity, and in this track, they’re showing it off with a lot of well-deserved moxie. 

The balance between the vocals and the instrumentation is fantastic, and by making it such a major point of interest in the mix, the natural chemistry between these players prevails in being the most alluring component in “You Know Me.” Kinship trumps synthetic harmonies every day of the week if you’re this critic, and in the instance of this new single and music video from Now Endeavor, it solidifies everything I thought about their sound coming into this review. They’ve got an authentic fire burning here, and it’s going to win over a lot of new fans this summer for sure. 

Lyrically speaking, “You Know Me” has the feel of a vulnerable look for Now Endeavor, and it’s inarguably one that I want to hear a lot more of in the future. They’ve cultivated some pretty intimate sonic backdrops in the past, but this is perhaps the most on-point they’ve been from a poetic standpoint – especially with regards to how personal thee tone of every verse feels. For being a dual-attack, their aesthetical harmony is seamless, and that isn’t something that I’ve been able to find in any of the other two-man tracks to have landed on my desk in the past month. 

Not at all sonically crushing and yet more evocative and heavy than most any other pop song I’ve listened to in 2020, Now Endeavor’s “You Know Me” is a homerun and a half no matter how you look at it. As a video, its color and crystal-clear melodies endear us to the motivations of the players right out of the gate; as a single, I it’s going to elevate these two from the shadows of the underground into the bright light of the primetime once and for all. They’ve earned the credibility, and they’re flexing some serious muscle in this latest release. 

Mindy McCall