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Music

Did A.G. Cook Just Drop the Perfect 21st Century Piano Ballad?

You'll either want to cry or listen to Cascada instead.
Emma Garland
London, GB

Things in the PC Music camp have been relatively quiet this year—at least on the surface. They've all been too busy making the shift from internet fad to major label hit factory, working with people like Carly Rae Jepsen, and going to Madame Tussauds with journalists from hit music website Noisey.com to take selfies with a waxwork of Zoella. There's been a few things here and there—a track from Lipgloss Twins, Felicita, and an EP/short film by GFOTY that sounds like Blink-182 the musical—but if you're looking to satiate your appetite then the only consistent source of their output is Charli XCX's Beats 1 show. PC Music mastermind A.G. Cook dropped a new piano ballad this afternoon though and it's, well, it's definitely something.

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Personally, I like that it sounds half way between Cascada and an earnest piano cover of a pop-punk song. I like the weird effect A.G. Cook has put on his voice that makes it squeak like a dog toy occasionally. I think it's a gorgeous and perfect piano ballad for these difficult, post-ironic times. However, Noisey's Associate Editor Ryan Bassil—who has written extensively about PC Music for this website—imagines "this is a peak into a world where all the best pop songs aren't released by your Rihannas and Britneys, but by the weird Swedish looking men who wrote them instead. It's missing that untangible but ever present star quality that permeates through all of pop's best tracks." Either way, it sparked a discussion that led to everyone on the desk listening to Ian Van Dahl, so there is that.

Here, have a listen for yourself.

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