Song Of The Year 2017: 8. James Vickery - Alone

Well, would you look at that. If it isn't great guy James Vickery with the second track from his debut EP Complexion. James sent me 'Alone' before its release and since I haven't spoken about it I thought I would share my reaction to said song. It was as follows: "Very INTO IT, the intro/outro is my fave bit. This hook is very good. Not even a chorus is it, just like one line over and over, it works. Songs without choruses really fucking me up this year." The other song I really liked that doesn't really have a chorus is Jakil's 'Every Time We Talk' which was genuinely pipped to the post by the tracks that did make this list.

'Alone' is produced by my favourite producer and in my opinion the UK's best producer (and also very long time WIIHAMB favourite), Maths Time Joy. This track is tight. It's that whole "whitespace" thing, when you're designing something. Less is more. And that really plays out well for 'Alone'. The first minute or so of this track is so minimalistic and it works effortlessly. In fact, let's discuss exactly what happens at 02:02 of 'Alone'. This is by far the greatest moment of this song and honestly it was exactly what I wanted from James Vickery post-'Epiphany' and 'Lately'. Everything drops out and then that vocal, the vocal we were all waiting for, slams back in. Glorious.

Another important, but niche, thing to note is that none of the tracks that Vickery has put out over the last year are longer than three minutes and twenty seconds which is truly the most optimal. People who don't take durations seriously aren't the types of people you should take seriously about music and that's the bottom line of this situation.

James has just announced his second London headline show. Tickets on Dice here. Come have a beer.