“Gimme Love” by Matt B and Eddy Kenzo

There is perhaps nothing as strong in this world as a burning desire for love, and in their new single “Gimme Love,” Matt B and Eddy Kenzo explore this passionate feeling with a melodic wit as powerful as an ocean tidal wave. Although the track is steeped in a hip-hop-style simplicity that rarely fosters brooding poeticisms within a song, these players deliver a transcendent pop framework in “Gimme Love” that is indicative of artists who have a profound love for the medium. This is one of the more genuine listens I’ve come across lately, and it sports quite the infectious hook to boot. 

The passion in this performance doesn’t stop and end with the verses but instead comes from the instrumental backdrop that Matt B and Eddy Kenzo are working into their narrative so flawlessly. It’s one thing to form an emotional statement with words, but to use a minimalistic arrangement like this one to make a bright melody even stronger is something that takes much more than talent – it takes skill and technical abilities that a lot of the most gifted singers and songwriters just don’t possess in or outside of the recording studio. 

This instrumentation is as black and white as it gets, allowing for the vocal to shape the finish in this single like nothing else could have. I would have opted for a little more energy from the percussion in a few spots had I been in the producer’s chair, but I can also understand where going with something purely conservative in stylization was preferable for what Matt B and Eddy Kenzo are trying to accomplish with this piece. They don’t want to exaggerate anything – this is a work of straightforwardness, as opposed to one of sweet decadence (which they likely could have made as well). 

Structurally, it doesn’t get much leaner and meaner than the hook we find in “Gimme Love,” and I think that these players were wise to go with something melodically flashy given the setting that they’re evolving the harmonies within. Getting a little extra luster into the big picture of this single makes sense considering the aforementioned dynamics within the arrangement, and when comparing what these guys are doing to what most of the players in the western pop community have been releasing lately, theirs is still a very moderate sound from top to bottom. 

From start to finish, Matt B and Eddy Kenzo own the spotlight brilliantly in “Gimme Love,” and if this is a good example of what they can do together when they’re sharing the same studio, I would hope to see them reunite for another collaboration in the future. This is an emotive ballad that has the swing of a club jam, and although there’s a lot of hybridity in pop music these days, this is a release that has the potential to score plenty of attention just on the strength of its originality, the integrity of its performers and the overall likeability of their stylish demeanor. 

Mindy McCall