Review: "Come to the Dark Side" - Jemma Johnson
- Azalea Withrow
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Jemma Johnson's single "Come to the Dark Side" is born at the intersection between masterful music production and personal storytelling. Johnson utilizes her lyrical power in this song to explore the inner struggle against addiction that runs in her family. "Come to the Dark Side" is vulnerable and relatable to many. The song's heaviness translates into its production to create something sonically fresh and deep, allowing it to take up the space it deserves. Johnson has written this song from both the perspective of the individual struggling against addiction and from the addiction's point of view, switching from first person to relaying addiction's temptation: "When I’m with you I just rebound. We get so high we can’t come down...You laugh like the devil...then whisper why don't you come to the dark side?"
Heavily synth and percussion-driven, "Come to the Dark Side" is influenced by 90s pop manifested in the edgy, full sound of the densely layered beats against Johnson's alluring vocal tracks. Her sound and lyrics emulate the seduction dance between addiction and an addict. The sonic textures are rich and deep, demanding the full attention of the listener. The strategic vocal stacking throughout the song adds dimension and gives agency to the voice of addiction echoing in someone's head. Johnson effectively delivers an alternative-pop song that does not sacrifice its lyrical intention for sound or vice versa.
Jemma Johnson is from a city called Derby in the UK. She has amassed over twenty million Spotify streams and cultivated over 10,000 monthly listeners on the platform. She has worked to make music with talented musicians such as Mark Pusey, who drums for Ed Sheeran, and has played alongside artists like Charlie Simpson and Beth McCarthy while on tour. "Come to the Dark Side" is the most recent single of Johnson's dropped this year following "Good Guy" and "Obsessed." The singer has received praise from BBC Music Introducing's Dean Jackson as well as fellow UK popstar Maisie Peters. Jemma Johnson is a pop singer-songwriter to watch, making a name for herself through her refined and unapologetic sound.
Written By Azalea Withrow
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