Cardamone’s “Killer”

In pop music, everything centers on the chorus. Thrusting together in a grind of a groove that could pull even the strongest of us asunder with its sheer weight alone, the hook behind the chorus of Cardamone’s “Killer” is, by some measure, no different than those to have come before it in the past. What separates this component of Cardamone’s new single from that of her predecessors’ latest is the molten-hot vocal leading the charge. There’s something truly special about the crooning found in the most exciting moments of this all-new song and music video, and while it’s not the only excuse you need to check out “Killer” this June, it’s chief among them in my book.  

The structure of the music video for this single is a bit more avant-garde than the actual moving parts in the song itself are, but this doesn’t create an odd contrast at all. Contrarily, I think Cardamone does a pretty good job of blending the alternative with the vaguely familiar in this piece, ultimately producing a sound that pays homage to the excess of old-school SoCal surreal pop while staying within the league of a pro-efficiency millennial style of songcraft. That’s a difficult line to toe, but in the case of the young woman providing us the charm of “Killer,” it would seem to be coming to her as second nature. You can’t teach this kind of talent – it’s something that has to be part of your blood.  

This is a danceable song by all measurements and accounts, and while it doesn’t feature a bludgeoning bassline in the foreground of the mix, it’s still more than physical enough melodically to compensate. There’s already so much muscularity to the groove in this track that I would argue “Killer” doesn’t have any more room for bass-born indulgences – particularly if one of the goals here was to highlight the exceptional versatility of Cardamone’s lead vocal. There’s some truth to the phrase too much of a good thing, and I don’t have any doubts in my mind that these sentiments were something our singer was thinking about quite a bit when putting together the pieces to make this, her most recent single and music video.

Club-goers and casual pop fans alike really can’t miss out on what Cardamone is dropping in “Killer” this summer, and if you haven’t already looked at the video for the song – which was just released this past June – now would be a good time to do so. This singer/songwriter doesn’t hold anything back from her audience in this performance, and even though I’ll need to hear a lot more content from her before I can decide whether or not she’s got long-term potential in this industry or not, I do think there’s enough evidence in “Killer” to suggest she’s the real deal. Cardamone is one to watch, and you’re likely to agree with me after hearing this stunning affair, the best parts of which, I should note, feel like a love letter to true pop aficionados.  

Mindy McCall