Lift music in the hospital would be desperate for A Night to Remember. It is still a song to remember, a firm pairing between Beabadoobe and Laufey, but those first few notes linger on as lounge pop in style and calm business meeting in practice. Reminiscent tones are inevitable for songs like this – it is how they are utilised which makes the major difference for this collaborative effort. Gotye did this all before about a decade ago. Still, Bossa Nova needs new voices and A Night to Remember gives it just that. Twinkling city lights and the aesthetic set out by Stan Getz and romanticisms of Europe from all those years ago are carried forth by the new era. Rightly so – there is life in it yet and Beabadoobe and Laufey capture it with real grace and, ultimately, a style befitting of the genre.
Enough changes are made to the fabric of Bossa Nova to get A Night to Remember into its own, unique range. There is a style here which is to be paired with those opportunists in the French New Wave, but ultimately this pairing is as reflective as the best of them. Polished and sleek as all these pieces should be, yet so assured of itself when facing up to the greats of the genre. Those sly piano notes and the rumbling acoustics pair as naturally as they always do for the lounge aesthetic. Background music in the nicest of ways. A Night to Remember stands on more than merits of pairing it with calmer moments but it certainly helps
Back and forth brilliance before the culmination – the James Bond soundtrack-like enchantment when Laufey and Beabadoobe come together for the sweet nothings and string sections. Place it over the opening credits of a Daniel Craig feature and it is not out of place at all. A Night to Remember is an exceptionally classy piece despite its lyrics and instrumentals working in parallel to one another. Bar the insertion of strings to signal the beginning and end of a shift, there is little to provide overlapping features from the strong vocal work and the equally tender instrumentals. Strings do all the work from time to time though it is never too late to add a little flourish here or there, as this duo does.
All in all a solid collaboration – one which sets the bar for others hoping to make their way to new and exciting fields of work. The efforts of Beabadoobe and Laufey to bring a sentimental Bossa Nova piece through to the modern era is as commendable as it is successful. Stuffed up with flu and gripping to reality as much as possible as illness and fatigue takes hold while lulling around in a Wetherspoons is the way to experience this one. Write it up right there, next to the cold chips and unlimited coffees. Such is the high life Bossa Nova music was made for. The lift music of today was the emotional highlights of before. Beebadoobe and Laufey bring it back to the lofty height it once rested at – exposing all the right workings in a tightly produced collaboration.
