Johnny Balik, his voice a heavenly mix between Justin Timberlake’s charm and Bruno Mars’ suave, who grabbed people’s attention over the past couple of years with his keyboard and a Soundcloud account.

There’s a small bio on Balik’s website that explains his overall style, “…MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST THAT FUSES ORGANIC AND POP SOUNDS WITH TRUTHFUL AND INSPIRING LYRICS.” and while it emulates Balik’s music perfectly, it doesn’t fully show just how many toes he has dipped into various pools of genre and experimentation with different instruments and beats.

Balik is unafraid to play with his sound, ranging from falsetto ballads (“Honey”) to R&B slow-jams (“I Need It”). His latest track “Frequency” does exactly that- the instant you press play you are welcomed by Balik’s pop falsetto vocals, and prepare yourself for another bop that just barely makes it onto the charts. But then about 20 seconds in you hear the workings of…a saxophone?! The vibe of the song is pretty two-dimensional, but the sax-tease goes and adds a bit of extra flavour to the production.

Following that, the lyrics don’t veer far off from what every other pop artist on the radio is singing about, “do you feel the frequency/ do you feel alive/ do you wanna ride the wave with me tonight?” typical “boy meets girl and falls hopelessly in love”. We’re talking the stuff rom-com films thrive off of. Still despite the cliche pop lyrics, Balik still manages to intoxicate the listeners to his music with his delicate vocals and jazzy beats.

Anyone who’s brave enough to incorporate a brass instrument into their pop song, automatically deserves a pat on the back. I for one, was taken aback at first listen because it’s not something that’s conventionally heard in pop music today. Balik’s producers are trying to push boundaries and test different ways to put out a unique sound while still trying to be, well, unique and play a different chart-topper that makes it stand out from the cookie-cutter mould.

So when you give it a listen, turn it up, kick back and feel the vibe.

-Genna Dara