HOW DO YOU LOVE SOMEBODY
Why Don’t We is back after a year and a half break from their last album “The Good Ones the Bad Ones”. Despite being in the midst of dealing with a lawsuit involving their previous management, WDW is still pushing forth and releasing new tracks as they gear up for a summer tour. Today their newest track “HOW DO YOU LOVE SOMEBODY” dropped.
Coming a long way from their first release in 2016, today, the group’s sound is more mature. “HOW DO YOU LOVE SOMEBODY” leans into the rocky side of pop than their previous more poppy tracks in the past. The music video even gives them an almost rock band aesthetic with a minimal color palette. The black and red aesthetic and lettering of the painted drum set brings back strong memories of old 5SOS, but the black and white dress code is very much in WDW style.
The song’s verse starts out with lyrics painting the scene of a love gone wrong over a backdrop of power chords on guitar. A melodic guitar joins in the background towards the end of the verse. In its own right, the verse builds anticipation to the high energy pre chorus.
Bringing more of an edge, the pre chorus adds in drums and almost chant like vocals that add emphasis to the ends of the vocal lines. This is the strongest part of the song for me and definitely my favorite. Maybe it’s the words wonder, summer, and under that pull my brain to “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons, but I’m feeling the Imagine Dragons vibes.
The first half of the chorus gets stripped back a bit and is propelled by a few guitar chords and drums, before adding back in a second guitar and more energy in the second half. While choruses typically hit you with the energy right away, I feel like this stripped back then add in chorus style is almost a staple of WDW. It’s definitely incorporated into a lot of their songs and interesting to hear from a pop group.
The vocal style of the second verse reminds me of JXDN’s songs. The relaxed, almost loose way of singing over the drum fueled backing track gives it that alternative inspired by MGK sound. The “woah” at the end really drives the JXDN feel for me.
The bridge of the song emphasizes the heartbreak of somebody leaving you and moving on very quickly. The structure of the bridge drives that emotional rollercoaster as it starts off controlled, but crescendos as the vocals reach an almost yelling point before heading back into the chorus a final time.
WDW’s inspiration from other artists manages to manifest itself into a song that feels completely their own. I can see this being a summer anthem and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for the boys.