Many people believe that old statement in the Bible that there’s nothing new under the sun, all is vanity, but let’s be grateful AV Super Sunshine never got the memo. His new single “Smile” takes musical elements familiar to us all, electronic music grows in popularity and acceptance with each new year, and blends them with time-tested musical touches in its original version to fashion something for listeners that isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but nevertheless stakes out territory that is signature yet still familiar. It’s an impressive balancing act to pull off and AV Super Sunshine seems to do with effortless skill. He packs an universe of musical entertainment into the first version’s near four minute running time and leaves listeners wanting more.
He gives them more with the house remix of “Smile”. Stretching the song out to nearly six minutes may seem like a bad idea on the surface, but it isn’t. AV Super Sunshine and producer Michael Bradford respond to the larger canvas with a wealth of musical ideas and bring the full battery of electronic music they harbor to bear on listeners. It never exhausts you or inspires you to stop. It is brimming with a variety of computerized passages and flourishes, color laden synthesizer lines, and keyboard runs that crackle with inspiration. The percussion hits a stronger note in the house remix than it does during the first version of “Smile” and creates a solid foundation for listeners they can latch onto from the outset.
The vocals in both versions are excellent and have strengths unique to each performance. He engages listeners in the original with straight ahead vocals and modulates his voice in first rate fashion in relationship to its musical arrangement. The phrasing is on point as well. He never needs to raise his voice to get his message or feelings across to listeners and the understated way he weaves through the song’s words raises them up several notches. It is, essentially, a simple song lyrically and it clear AV wants to communicate with listeners rather than bowl them over with flashy technique. He’s joined, as well, by some top notch backing vocals that pop up at key points during the track. The house remix has fine vocals as well, but they come at a faster pace, as does the music, while still managing to entertain listeners.
Michael Bradford never fails AV Super Sunshine in his role as a producer and this track is no exception. They have enjoyed an ongoing creation collaboration for some time now and Bradford’s keen ear for highlighting what Sunshine does best helps put these two tracks over the top. The video is the icing on this particularly delectable cake as it exhibits the same sureness of style defining both versions of the song in a visual way. There’s no discernible weakness in the way AV Super Sunshine presents his latest single “Smile” and it will garner him, without question, a bevy of new fans once it receives the exposure it deserves.
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