Although he can trace the origins of his musical career to a lengthy stint as the frontman of a local punk rock band, the Copenhagen-born and-based singer/songwriter Mattis Jakobsen has begun to see both national and international for his solo recording project MATTIS, a decided and radical sonic departure from his previous work; in fact, if you had been frequenting this site last year, you may recall that I wrote about the Danish pop artist’s debut single “Loverboy,” a “viking soul” track that features a haunting spectral yet low-end heavy production with tweeter and woofer rocking beats, a sinuous bass line, hand clap-led percussion, brief, smoky blasts of guitar and an infectious, club banging hook paired with Jakobsen’s sultry and achingly tender vocals, capturing a heartsick narrator, who has fallen into a deep, emotional and spiritual abyss in which he’s desperately alone and disconnected.
“The Chain,” the up-and-coming Danish artist’s second single will further cement his growing reputation for crafting melancholy and heartbreaking pop anthems; however, the new single finds him is an old fashioned torch song that finds Jakobsen expanding upon his sound as it features a stomping and insistent beat with hand clap-led percussion and a propulsive baseline while lyrically, the song features ominous and sinister lyrics focusing on a relationship in which both sides may have clandestine and uncertain motives. And throughout the song, its narrator essentially tells his love object, that he shall soon break the chain that binds them together; that he will move on” — but interestingly enough while doing so, the song managed to remind me of a sinister and dysfunctional version of Billy Ocean‘s “Caribbean Queen” with an equally razor sharp and infectious hook.
