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Wouldja look at that, Vulture got a new podcast.
Were delighted to welcome the superlative music showSwitched on Popand its hostsCharlie HardingandNate Sloanto our digital shores.
Today they kick off their Vulture tenure with a look at the Weeknds megahit Blinding Lights.
), you canenjoy their vast back catalogue.
This article originally ran on February 2, 2021.
It has been updated and republished followingThe Weeknds Super Bowl halftime show performance.
The song vaulted up the charts in March 2020, supported bya viral TikTok challenge.
Using the songs opening instrumental as inspiration, countless families performed the dance together while sheltering in place.
(Given the songs success, the Weeknd is justly aggrieved by hisrecent Grammys snub).
Listen here, onApple Podcasts, or onSpotify, and read an excerpt from the conversation below.
Charlie:Blinding Lights connection to the 80s comes from the Maniac beat and its Take On Me synthesizers.
It is comforting nostalgia like when he mined an 80s pop sound on 2015s Cant Feel My Face.
The guys composed for everyone from Brittany Spears to Taylor Swift and has a magic touch.
Martin is able to very easily slip between styles.
But one of the ways that we can hear that contemporary quality is the underlying 808 bass sound.
The 808 is the hallmark sound of a lot of modern bass production.
Charlie:Its the connective tissue across Billboards Hot 100.
If youve listened to songs across genre, you hear that 808 bass sound.
Lets take a random song: 34+35 by Ariana Grande.
Nate:Another frequent Max Martin collaborator.
Charlie:Thats true, but shes not alone.
Lets see what else we have: AJRs Bang!
The song is called Bang!
its got to have an 808 style bass.
And now were in a very different style than Ariana Grandes R&B.
Lets see, whats on the Hot 100 …
[Scans Hot 100].
… Lil Baby, On Me.
Im sure its got it.
Nate:Yup, theres the deep 808.
Nate:Is the Blinding Lights bass an 808 drum machine technically?
Charlie:Thats an interesting question.
The 808 drum machine is known for its very deep bass sound.
Producers figured out that they could pitch that bass sound really low.
And it becomes a bass sound, not a bass drum, but actually like a bass instrument.
So my guess is no.
Nate:Okay, cool.
These classic 80s elements.
The pulsing drums, the screaming synthesizers, but underneath it, this very modern, familiar bass sound.
The lyrics have just enough ambiguity that they can touch on our present moment in this surprising way.
I understand why this song has been a hit with such longevity.
