Bursting with energy from the moment we press the play button forward, it’s immediately evident that we aren’t listening to a stock version of Project Grand Slam’s classic track in their new release of “I’m Falling off of the World,” from The Shakespeare Concert LP. Recorded in the style they perform the song live, this single has a blistering sonic presence from beginning to end, but it isn’t the ripple effect of its pronounced groove that winds up garnering the most attention here. On the contrary, it’s perhaps the synchronicity of the players that got me focused the most in “I’m Falling off of the World” and ultimately left me wanting to explore the entire tracklist of The Shakespeare Concert all over again.
As the lyrics allude, a sense of losing control is constantly present in this arrangement, but not because of a recklessness in the instrumentation at all. If anything, I think that the erraticism of the beat is what fuels the overdriven adrenaline here more than even the urgency of the hook, which definitely steals a lot more of the audience’s affection in this version of the song compared to the original cut. “I’m Falling off of the World” is aging well, and from where I’m sitting it would appear that the composition is getting even better with a bit of stretching courtesy of this group’s vivid stage show – or at least that’s how it is being presented to us in this single.
The production quality here is honestly as black and white as it gets for the kind of song we’re listening to, and I admire Robert Miller’s decision to keep things on the simple side of the spectrum. He’s never been scared of indulgence, but he’s certainly not running into the arms of a liberal aesthetic on purpose here. This is simply an instance where he’s letting his players get as loose with the groove as they can while still holding onto the shape of the song, which takes a lot more cohesion than a lot of newly aligned bands of this nature would be able to muster, whether the chemistry is there or not. This is pure jam vibes, and it’s what I really love about a fusion record made in this style.
I’m very curious to hear what Project Grand Slam is going to do in the studio next, but before I get a chance to hear their next big album or single, I want to see them cut up an endearing piece like this in person for myself. This single, and really everything they recorded for The Shakespeare Concert, stings with a fresh swagger that cannot be replicated with samples and a lot of fanciful manipulation from behind the board. Influenced by cerebral concepts as well as old fashioned pop melodicism, PGS makes a case for being one of the best in their business here, and I don’t doubt they’re going to continue getting better with time, and experience, keep influencing their work.
Troy Johnstone