Track Review: Small Black, “Photojournalist”

Brooklyn natives Small Black debut the first single from their upcoming record, “New Chain.”

Small Black’s “Photojournalist” is pretty, sure. Unfortunately, the laborious attention paid to “prettiness” and what it’s supposed to mean is what makes the track so boring.

The song itself is skillfully done, utilizing trickling synthesizers and blissed-out technological tweaks that deserve better than the lyrics that accompany them. That aspect of the song is so remarkably bland that it’s clear that the verses are stop-gaps intended to fill the unused space where the singing needed to go. There’s no other logical way to explain a chorus with the refrain “rise up again like a ghost.”

It’s not just the lyrics that seem trite here, either. Lead singer Josh Kolenik has a lovely voice, but his ambivalent whispers become dull when paired with music that’s already so breathless and understated in itself. They almost seem to imitate the track, which is distracting and unnecessary. A more striking vocal juxtaposition might have been the key to making “Photojournalist” great instead of the pleasant but forgettable song it is.

Small Black-“Photojournalist”