Laura Kerry
With the exception of a song filled with meows and ironic boasts about fame, Joel Michael Howard has spent the last couple of years releasing cleverly orchestrated, downtempo pop songs about love and loss. In his newest track off of his second full-length, 5th Grade, Part B, Howard pursues a different emotional path: being over it.
More rhythmic than most of his other work, “Petraeus” begins with a dry drum loop and a deep, steady bass line that march the song through talk of war and brotherhood. When Howard’s voice enters, it is soft and soulful, floating weightlessly above the heartier pop instrumentation and sounding a bit like Unknown Mortal Orchestra. As the song rises to the chorus, he continues gently, “I thought we we could all be brothers now / Hold hands and love one another now” between woozy synth lines. But the next line is more forceful; as the artist sings, “Fuck that, it’s a thought lost anyhow,” his voice is as percussive as the beat beneath it. Smooth, catchy, and assured, “Patraeus” is a good anthem for those in need of moving beyond something (including disgraced former CIA directors, apparently).