Kevin George – “Switch Up / Sweet Darling”

Dark horse of alternative R&B, Kevin George has gifted the world with the second teaser off his upcoming debut album MY DARLING’S A DEMON due August 9, titled “Switch Up / Sweet Darling” (June 14).

Another bundled single release following last month’s “Lay It On Me / Last Night Lost Reason,” this prolific writer is not only building immense anticipation for his debut, but is challenging his fans to figure out how these four releases and the dark, sometimes hellish, images that presently occupy his socials connect. We can’t speak to the overarching theme of the project just yet, but we can put our two cents in on “Switch Up” and “Sweet Darling,” both of which grapple with the deceptiveness of taking life at face value and recognizes that there is often more to someone than meets the eye.

“Switch Up” intros with a distorted beat building into George’s first verse where he questions how he could have fallen victim to the “switch up.” Nursing a broken heart, shattered by deception, George slides into an infectious chorus, settling into a distinct groove while he repeats title mantra “You really hit me the switch up.”

Leading nicely into chilled R&B track, “Sweet Darling,” George muses over his former “sweet darling” and how “everything changed in a minute.” Utilizing low-fi beats with a combination of synthetic and natural-sounding instruments, we hear a recurring, haunting piano melody in the chorus and sprinkles of pizzicato strings toward the conclusion of the track. The combination of this slow-burning instrumentation and George’s languid tone gives forth a sort of relaxed reminiscence, as if he recognizes and has come to peace with the love he has lost.