Review by Emily Smith
Emerging artist Aria Wunderland has quite the number of accomplishments under her belt. With over 100K Spotify streams and attention from such outlets as AXS, Popdust, and idobi, her music is gaining a steady following as she continues to refine her style of alternative pop. Her music has also been featured on Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Bad Girls Club, and has made notable appearances at the Billboard Music Awards and New York Fashion Week.
For her latest single “Super Fly,“ Wunderland teams up with producer Ikenna FuNken and rapper Only 1 Theory to create a hypnotic synth-pop track infused with elements of trap, which is a slightly new direction from her previous work.
The track begins with Wunderland‘s vocals atop pulses of instrumentation before a heavy, thumping beat kicks in. The verses, in general, are led by rather minimalist instrumentation that emphasizes her enchanting vocal performance. The instrumentation makes the verses sound calculating because of that focused, minimalist approach. It also helps build up the intensity of the chorus. Right before the chorus, a piano chord abruptly cuts through the track before she sings, “You’re gonna hurt somebody” while the rest of the instrumentation stops. It’s an attention-grabbing break in the sound that forces the intense sound of the chorus to build itself back up.
The track is graced with instrumental embellishments expertly layered on top of one another that keep the track alive, and ultimately progress the song nicely. The verses are not totally identical in sound and the overall variation keeps the track interesting.
The lyrical content is also another noteworthy feature of this track. For instance, the main verse of the chorus is “You’re super fly/ And when you bite it don’t hurt me.” As Wunderland explains, “’Super Fly’ is a play on words; implying that the person you’re falling for has swagger and is ‘fly’ but bites (like any bug would). The concept also implies that I have thick enough skin to deal with the bad decision of going for this person.” Even though this person may not be the best, it’s impossible not to think about them as highlighted in the lyrics, “You’re buzzing all up in my brain/ When you leave I can’t stay away.” The track also offers some snide moments such as the lyric “Who else is gonna entertain your show and tell.” Essentially, as Wunderland states, “It’s a song about knowing you’re about to fall for the wrong person, but choosing to anyway.”
The rap in this track also offers some decent bars such as, “Don’t pretend you need me/ Then disappear like Houdini,” which adds to the biting tone of the song and “I put aside every ounce of my pride/ You and me collide/ Take the stars for a ride.”
“Super Fly” is an interesting new direction for Aria Wunderland’s sound and one that definitely stands out amongst the crowd.
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