Modern-day crooner and “Wake Me Up” singer Aloe Blacc releases a new single featuring End of the World, titled “What Is Love.”
“What Is Love” is an electrifying acoustic powered by a clap-inspired chorus. Despite its inspiring strings, the track ponders a relationship’s legitimacy in the face of hard times and fighting. “What is love? / Why do I stay with you?” Asks Blacc on the chorus. “When everything hurts? / Yeah, we got some issues.”
Japanese group End of the World sweeps the second verse with demur revelations. “Weren’t we everything we thought we needed? / So how did we end up feeling so mistreated?” The group ponders. “We’ve been through this dance a time or two / And these new fights feel like old news.”
The 44-year-old has built a solid music career incorporating soul, folk, and contemporary pop into money-making hits like “I Need A Dollar and “The Man.” But Blacc’s music writing encourages him to collaborate outside of his “musical umbrella” with Steve Aoki, J.I.D, LeAnn Rimes, Sam Feldt and more.
“Rather than a genre, my music follows a theme I call A.I.M.: affirmation, inspiration, and motivation,” he explained to Spotify. “After so many opportunities to talk about my music and not feel comfortable saying, ‘I’m a pop artist’ or ‘I’m a folk artist,’ I had this realization. My songwriting genre is thematic.”
Last month, Avicii and Aloe Blacc’s “Wake Me Up” was awarded the RIAA Diamond Certification (over 10 million certified units.) Blacc took to Instagram to thank the fans and to remember his dear friend Avicii.
Later this year, Blacc will headline the four-day Queenscliff Music Festival 2023 alongside blues rockers G Love & Special Sauce and singer-songwriter Foy Vance.
