Smooth in tone but not lacking in a little bit of crunch when the percussion needs to push us in a different direction, the instrumentation that comprises “I Hope It Hurts” probably would have been enough to get me interested in what Johnnie Mikel is up to in the studio these days, but alas; it’s just one reason to dig the vibe of this latest single from the critically-adored singer/songwriter.
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“I Hope It Hurts” isn’t a one-off, but instead another single in a slew of releases from this artist that have left many lost in their oft-hypnotizing harmonies. This song is indeed the most beat-centric of any in the discography it calls home, but that doesn’t make it a creative outcast among the misfit melodies included in this player’s complete body of work. On the contrary, there are some crucial elements in the construction of this track that summarize why its creator is a winner from all angles, and aside from this, it’s just supremely good pop listening in a time that has been less than exciting for those of us who appreciate the genre’s best work.
I enjoy the enormity of the melodic parts in this mix, and while they might seem a little overbearing at first, it doesn’t take more than a single stanza to understand why their monstrous size is necessary for the track’s progression. The lead vocal has some of the more delicate and charismatically sharp equalization I’ve heard in a non-mainstream release this season, but having heard a lot of Mikel’s music before this single’s debut, I can’t honestly say that I wasn’t expecting a high level of care in even the finest of details here.
For all intents and purposes, “I Hope It Hurts” is built like a pop song, but it doesn’t allow for the man singing it to sound forced in his performance; it coaxes too much of his intimate side out of him, making some of the verses sound more balladic in this rendition of the song than they would have with someone else singing it.
There’s no denying that I always anticipate a big wow factor whenever I listen to someone like Johnnie Mikel, but I was truly very surprised by the intricacies of “I Hope It Hurts” when I first listened to it just recently ahead of its official release date. Foundationally speaking, there’s no discerning what this single is made of from anything else in the contemporary pop spectrum, but the underlying attitude and execution at hand here are pure post-punk (and a variety I would like to hear Mikel experiment with even more in the future, of course).
There is more to “I Hope It Hurts” with each listening session you spend with it, and when taking into account what a lot of the other pop singles out right now are designed for (and by), this is all the more a track that you would be crazy to skip out on – especially if you’re a fan of the best that indie pop has to offer.
Chadwick Easton