Review
Genre and Mood
Marcus Worgull made Love Song for the end of the night: deep house at an unhurried pace, a cover of a famous song, romantic in its words and hypnotic in the way the groove refuses to hurry. Resident Advisor described it as a smooth blend of vocal, groove and subtle melody, and that restraint is the point.
Song Summary
The track is a new version of The Cure’s Lovesong, the 1989 single Robert Smith wrote as a wedding present for his fiancée Mary. When it first circulated, unreleased, many listeners took it for an edit of the original. It is in fact a cover: the English singer-songwriter Fink sings the lyric over a deep house groove built on a plucked bassline. For about a year it was a sought-after track that Dixon often used to close his sets, before Innervisions released it in September 2018.
Musical Breakdown
Main Section
The track rests on a deep house beat and a plucked bassline, and over them Fink sings The Cure’s words in his own voice, a new recording of the lyric rather than a sample of Smith.
Build-up
According to Resident Advisor’s review, the track builds gradually, with chords and then strings joining the groove and the vocal.
Breakdown
The build leads to a breakdown, the moment the track opens out.
Outro
An outro follows and winds the track down. No source we found times these parts or describes them further, so listen for the shape rather than for a single drop.
Concepts in Focus
Love Song is a lesson in what a cover version is. An edit rearranges an existing recording; a cover records the song anew. Worgull’s track was first mistaken for the former, but it is the latter, and its writing credit goes to the six members of The Cure who wrote the original, with the vocal by Fink.
The engine is the bassline. Resident Advisor heard it as plucked, and in deep house a figure like this carries as much of the mood as the voice does.
The breakdown matters because of how the track was used: as a closing record, it gives a room one last chance to breathe. Compare a similar long life in the clubs before release with Konstantin Sibold – Madeleine, another Innervisions record.
Artistic Context
Worgull is a German producer, listed by MusicBrainz in Cologne. Love Song came out as the label’s IV81 on 7 September 2018, with Love Dub and Listen To Charanjit on the B-side; Bo Kondren mastered it. Fink, born Fin Greenall, started in electronic music as a DJ, with a first single on a Ninja Tune imprint, before turning to songs built on his bluesy voice and acoustic guitar.
Impact and Reception
Resident Advisor’s Matt Unicomb summed up the release as “a Dixon favourite” that finally got its release. The Cure’s original reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Put this one on after midnight and let it take its time.
