Heartache fills the air not long after hitting play on the new single “All Night Again” from Manny Cabo, but this isn’t because of any flaw in the meticulous melody we’re listening to. Even before Cabo begins to sing, there’s a passion in the instrumentation that will become his central backdrop that even the most discriminating of ears can’t deny. As we listen on, “All Night Again” transforms into something larger than life in every way that matters, and when considering its being comprised of nothing more than a piano and a vocal, no one can accuse this artist of being limited in talent. He’s got the chops to do a lot with his honeysweet voice, and he wastes no time in getting right to business here.
It doesn’t take us very long to figure out what the nucleus of this track is; it’s definitely the powerful voice driving home the lyrics, but I wouldn’t say that its melodic strength is the only component of Cabo’s appeal in “All Night Again.” Whether it’s what he’s singing or how he’s singing it to us, he’s constantly presenting a poetic duality in both his tone and his overall delivery that reaffirms how honest he’s being here. He doesn’t have to be aggressive in the ascent to strike a nerve with the audience – he’s throwing up fireworks at some of his most humble moments in this track, and that’s difficult even for the most seasoned of artists in the pop/rock genre.
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As we get towards the conclusion of “All Night Again,” Cabo’s voice transitions into a near-whisper, alluding to a yearning-filled slumber that seems to commence instantly upon the music fading into the silence. It’s provocative and warm, but beyond the cosmetics, it feels like a chapter from a story that hasn’t yet been completed. I think that Manny Cabo has a lot of potential to explore progressive concepts in the future, and in his launching of an embracive narrative in this most recent release, he’s lending optimism to his fans like few other young pop singers have in 2020. This could definitely be a turning point, much as The Voice was a critical stepping stone, and you needn’t give this track more than a cursory listen to understand why I think so.
“All Night Again” isn’t the only indie single you should be listening to this summer, but if you ask me, it’s one of the best vocal-driven pop songs to come from the left side of the dial in a long time. There aren’t a lot of ballads that step away from the theatrics as smoothly as this one, and even though it’s still a little early on in his career to say for sure, I think this demonstrates a star-quality ‘it’ factor that will make Manny Cabo all the more attractive to pop fans looking for something fresh right now. Cabo has definitely made a fan out of me, and if you give him a chance, I think he will make one of you as well.
Troy Johnston