I’ll clarify something straight away, just to set the scene. The 1980s was not just a time. The 1980s – for us Generation X folk – was, and remains, a place. Tangible and filled with paradoxes.

The Cold War, famine, social upheaval everywhere as political ideologies took hold in the West, and began to crumble in the East. Movies unlike any before or since. And the music – ohhhh, the MUSIC!

I come from that place called the 1980s. I turned ten years of age in January 1980. That’s how much of the 1980s I am. And I just listened to Dancing With The Devil, the latest single by up and coming Kiwi artist Reid. I listened to a sultry, smooth engineering showcase from Toby Lloyd from Tiny Triumph, mastered by Robin Schmidt – he of Elton John and Mumford & Sons fame. A nice, clearly audible acoustic-based rhythm guitar sits over the top of the keys but not overpowering them. A nippy, memorable little lead guitar phrase runs through the track, anchoring the composition well. A great bottom end and beat. Very good studio work, and musical performance. I don’t have the info on who played what on the track but no worries, I’m going to wax lyrically about the vocalist anyway.

Reid‘s vocal on top of the orchestration is what really got me. The lyrics are about deciding whether to be naughty or uphold one’s morals (BE NAUGHTY! EVERY TIME), and the perils of giving in to the dark side (in small caps – I don’t have the budget to fight Disney). Anyway, the vocal. Listening to the great melody delivered in this track I got Hall & Oates. I got Aztec Camera. I got Then Jericho. I did, however, get them all in a subtle, subjective way. This guy is very good at delivering the 80s in a contemporary manner, giving you the feel of how it was to go to see The Breakfast Club for the first time. Or Back To The Future. Or Terminator. To munch on Cola Cubes and play Pac Man in the arcade. To see desperate people fighting for their futures, but knowing that we always had our music to escape to.

It belongs in the now though, this song. It invokes those feelings, but it was recorded in the 21st century and is an homage to that era, not a copy of it. Reid is a man who definitely looks the star of today – you can check his socials out by searching Reidnotread in Zuckerberg’s empire – and he’s definitely a man of mystery, as I have no bio to add to the site (yet). That doesn’t matter though, because if you, like me, enjoy the sounds of what I’ve tried to capture in word here, you’ll love this chap. There’s a video coming out on 1st September, when the single is launched, that I’m hoping I’ll be asked to review.

In the UK right now there’s an up and coming act called Deco. I’ve been following their career for a while. They have this same vibe. I hope they get here one day because Reid would be a perfect tour partner for them. This track is an absolute joy. It’s not complex, but it’s slick and delivered very well, with no nonsense but with panache. Ten out of ten from me.

Reid. Go click like on his socials so you get to hear more.