Gotye’s latest single, Eyes Wide Open, from the globally successful Making Mirrors album has gotten its first taste of radio airplay in the UK this week.
With the singer-songwriter’s first release, Somebody That I Used to Know, and the album itself having gone to No. 1 in charts in Europe, Australia, Asia and the US, it seemed this song was slowly but surely creeping its way into everyone’s life at the time.
If, like most of the world, you’ve already heard it, you know exactly what I mean.
And, if like the millions of others you’ve fallen under the mysticism of its lyrics, you may be pleasantly surprised by Walk Off The Earth’s rather more penetrating deliverance of this poignant track.
Forming in 2006 in their hometown of Burlington, Ontario, the group consists of members Gianni Luminati, Ryan Marshall, Mike ‘Beard Guy’ Taylor, Joel Cassady and Sarah Blackwood, each of whom are, in their own right, adept multi-instrumentalists and vocalists.
The band had been a mild online sensation for a while already, with a collection of videos of original music and other songs they’d covered, including Adele’s Someone Like You, previously posted on the web.
As well as the distinctively earnest performance, a large part of the group’s success has been contributed by the growing popularity of the simplistic looking yet striking display put on by the band in the music video for their version of the song.
With a staggering 98 million hits on YouTube since uploading the video in January this year, Walk Off the Earth have since performed their version of Somebody I Used To Know on the Ellen DeGeneres show over in the US and the Canadian quintet have made quite a name for themselves with their unique rendition of the song.
From the off, the set-up of the performance gets you; five people assembled around one guitar each with their own small part to play which, when recreated in unison, contributes to the subsequently remarkable feat of a music video.
With strumming to drumming on one solitary instrument, it’s not just the spectacle or peculiarity of the routine that makes this performance a success either.
Stripping away the various layers of melody, electronically synthesised sounds and additional instruments, between the three lead vocalists the group brings a greater depth of understanding to the lyrics which, on hearing both versions, is something you don’t realise is missing from the original.
Bringing attention to the turbulent lyrics of reminiscence, remorse and progression, their live performance results in rougher vocals, adding potency to every line and making their rendition come across more intense and heartfelt.
With each vocalist having a contrasting tone and pitch to them, the structure of their performance is well thought out too.
Marshall, Luminati and Blackwood’s scheduled individual parts add an element of progression to the song and the timings to when the band come together in different parts cleverly creates a maximal effect with their vocal range and limited resources.
A significant factor in the song’s success was undoubtedly due to how well audiences connected to the lyrics of Somebody That I Used To Know too.
With penetrating lyrics about being scorned by love, Walk Off The Earth’s grasp of the heart-wrenching situation played out in the song provides a greater sense of understanding for audiences to relate to, growing with each singer’s parts to portray a sense of development in the protagonist.
Luminati in particular, with his depth of range, has an authority, complexity and sincerity to his part which brings the tormented lyrics to life whilst carried in the escapism in his voice, before almost howling the last few choruses and giving in to the last dejected note, amongst the oddly symbolic quiet harmonising of his band mates around him, before finally letting go off the listener.
Following Luminati’s first chorus, Blackwood also has a seemingly effortless grace and gravity in her performance, carrying the high notes and interweaving comfortably with Luminati as the song develops before the male and female parts synchronise.
The fragility of Blackwood’s appearance from her doll-like features to the frail stance and downwards stare she maintains until her part midway through the song all add to the theatrics of the performance too.
If you appreciated the magnitude of Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know, you’ll undoubtedly respect Walk off The Earth for what they’ve accomplished with this performance.
Not only do they genuinely put on a superb rendition, but the effort in the intricate details this band put into what they craft is astounding – for that reason alone they should be recognised.
With the launch of their new website and their latest single, Little Boxes, due to be released soon, alongside the 100 million (and growing) hits on YouTube of their version of Somebody That I Used To Know, expect to see more a lot more of Walk Off The Earth this year.
Acoustic Sound Hole 