The British electronic group Clean Bandit is back with another single from their album, New Eyes, called, “Real Love.” Their hit single, “Rather Be,” topped the summer charts and marked them as artists to watch. “Real Love” is their third single since “Rather Be,” which peaked at #1 on the UK charts and #10 in the US.
Clean Bandit’s music is a fusion of many genres, including electronic, pop, classical, funk, and dance. The infusion of classical elements acts as an interesting counter to the heavy bass and vocals in their songs. Not many electronic groups include members that can play the cello and violin; this helps them stand out in the sea of dance music being produced.
This single lives up to their standard of creating danceable, yet interesting songs. Like their single “Rather Be,” “Real Love” features singer Jess Glynne; marking the second collaboration that the group has done with Glynne.
“Real Love” opens with the rich sound of the cello, bass, and piano. The electric elements and vocals trickle in afterwards and build the momentum of the song. Jess Glynne’s powerful vocals really grounded the instrumentals throughout the song. The fusion element is heavy in “Real Love.” It’s funky, fun, and inspiring all at once. Listening to this song is effortless and enjoyable.
The majority of the song consists of Glynne repeatedly belting out “this is real, real, real, real love.” As the title suggests, the song lyrics revolve around the narrative of how an individual feels about their love.
The simplistic lyrics are meant to inspire the listener to picture their own relationship; which is further demonstrated by the parade of blissful couples featured in the music video. While the lyrics weren’t repetitive to the point of being annoying, the effort to make the lyrics universal straddled the line of being boring.
Overall, it was a decent single, but it isn’t unique enough to make the same impact that “Rather Be” did on the charts. It was expected. The execution of the song was solid but it didn’t give us anything new; instead, it rode on the coattails of their previous work. “Real Love” certainly makes you want to get up and move, but it isn’t remarkable enough to be a hit.