Review
Genre and Mood
Ryan Blyth delivers an energising house track with Once Twice, featuring Rachel K Collier. It is bright and uplifting, a sung house record that is short, direct and built to make a floor move.
Song Summary
The track pairs Blyth’s beat with Collier’s voice. It was premiered in June 2016 on Love & Other, a channel for deep, bass and electronic music, and the video version runs under three minutes, so it gets to the point quickly: groove, voice and a repeated hook.
Lyrics Breakdown
Intro: Setting the Tone
The song opens with bright beats that set the tempo, and Collier’s voice soon introduces the melody.
Verse 1: The Power of Connection
In the first verse the vocal and the rhythm settle into each other, the topline riding the groove.
Chorus: The Uplifting Anthem
The chorus brings the title phrase as the hook, the moment the track is built around.
Verse 2: Embracing the Moment
The second verse returns to the groove with the same light touch.
Bridge: A Reflective Interlude
A softer passage shifts the focus to melody before the final chorus.
Final Chorus: Celebrating Life
The last chorus returns with the full beat and ends the track at its brightest.
Concepts in Focus
Once Twice is a typical <a href=“https://korczis.github.io/sonic-playground/concept/featured-artist/” class=“concept-link font-medium text-primary-700 underline decoration-dotted underline-offset-4 hover:decoration-solid dark:text-primary-400” data-concept=“featured-artist” title=“A guest performer credited on another artist’s track, usually as “feat.”: a rapper’s verse, a singer’s hook or a second voice. Features bring together different styles and audiences and are central to hip-hop, R&B and dance music.“>featured artist record. The producer, Ryan Blyth, owns the track; the singer, Rachel K Collier, brings the topline, the melody and words that sit on top of the beat. Ableton’s profile of Collier notes that she worked as a topline writer and featured artist early in her career, including on Mat Zo’s work that brought her a UK top 20 single and a Grammy nomination, before becoming known as a producer and live performer in her own right.
Underneath is a house groove: a steady kick on every beat and percussion on the off-beats, a pulse designed to carry a voice without competing with it.
The hook is the title phrase, repeated in the chorus so that it sticks after one listen. In a track this short, the hook arrives early and returns often; compare the way a featured singer’s line carries Gorgon City – Ready For Your Love (CLOSE Remix).
Artistic Context
Rachel K Collier is an electronic music producer, vocalist and performer from Swansea in Wales. She has worked in the commercial music industry since 2013, uses Ableton’s Push 2 as the heart of her live setup, teaches as an Ableton Certified Trainer, and has performed at SXSW and the BBC’s Biggest Weekend.
