Review
Genre and Mood
dOP made Close Up as vocal house, and its label, Circus Company, sold it as an addictive slice of vivid vocal house. The German magazine Groove heard something older under it, an attempt at New Beat and Hi-NRG, the stiff, machine-driven dance music of the 1980s. Hypnotic and sultry is the pull between those two: a cold, repetitive groove and a warm voice floating over it.
Song Summary
Close Up was released by Circus Company on 26 May 2014, on twelve-inch and digitally, under the catalogue number CCS088, and marked the Paris trio’s return to the label after a spell with others. The original mix runs five minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Circus Company describes it as a groove carrying JAW’s vocals, with soft chords and pads; the release came with remixes by Catz ’n Dogz and San Proper, and the digital edition adds one by Louisahhh.
Musical Breakdown
No review maps Close Up bar by bar, so this page keeps to what its critics heard. Groove’s Alexis Waltz described the groove as machine-like, straight and shimmering, and found it limp and short of energy on its own. Only when the falsetto vocal arrives, he wrote, does the track find a centre. Listen for that change: what the beat does alone, and what the voice adds.
Concepts in Focus
The falsetto is the point of the record. Groove heard JAW’s high, light voice as a nod to the trio’s idol Prince. Here it is the warm element against a cool, repetitive beat, and the reason the track holds together.
The remix versions show how much the same parts can change. Groove preferred them: Catz ’n Dogz turn the track into a surprisingly open, swinging flow over a heavy, hip-hop-influenced house groove, while San Proper first frees the shimmering hookline and then weaves in a delicate, floating groove with a subtle, electrifying drive.
The official music video, which VICE presented in May 2014, is a first-person ride-along of life on tour, which VICE said brings into focus dOP’s best quality, their live performance.
Artistic Context
dOP formed in France in 2006 from childhood friends; Wikipedia lists Damien Vandesande and Jonathan Illel as its current members, and their album Greatest Hits came out on Circus Company in 2010. VICE described a group that toes the line between vocal house and digital pop, with two members playing live instruments while the singer sings live. Hear them with their friends Nôze on Nôze, dOP – In the Back of My Ship.
Impact and Reception
Close Up divided its critics: the label’s addictive single was, for Groove, a weak original saved by its remixes. Play the original first, then the remixes, and decide for yourself.
