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Just You And I

by Tom Walker

Talking of subliminal effects (see my 'Piece Of Your Heart' critique), this production has an absolute doozy! Listen to the hi-hat when it first arrives with the chorus at 0:36. It’s sensitively programmed to have a nice, natural lilt. Otherwise there’s apparently nothing particularly special about it, but once that chorus moves into the second verse, the hi-hat is subtly different. Closer inspection reveals that the slight swing it previously had has gone — it seems to be keeping completely rigid 16th notes. Then (you guessed it!) the moment the chorus kicks in, the swing returns. This might seem like an insignificant detail, but it really does affect the groove in practice, such that the second chorus suddenly seems to move along more fluidly.