When d’Z & Bernadette Dengler (featuring Chris Korzec) unleashed “Shout!”, it hit me less like a typical single and more like a sudden, necessary nervous system reset. The track, a collaboration spanning the Netherlands and Austria, carries the dense, sophisticated DNA of Steely Dan but decides to wear it to a raucous block party hosted by The Brand New Heavies.
d’Z anchors the vessel with drums and piano, building a rhythmic structure that is complex enough to study, yet sufficiently visceral to force movement. It’s a delicate balance, reminiscent of that precise, geometric satisfaction you get when a vending machine accepts a crumpled dollar bill on the first try—suddenly, everything just clicks into place. Bernadette Dengler’s vocals weave through this architecture, not floating idly over it but wrestling with the groove, turning anxiety into a syncopated playground.
There is a fascinating friction here. Conceived during the grand pause of the pandemic, the music embodies the peculiar madness of cabin fever. You can almost hear the walls closing in, only to be pushed back by the sheer force of the arrangement. It captures that frantic desire to shake the static out of your limbs after staring at a screen for twelve hours. When Chris Korzec cuts in with the featured guitar work, the tension snaps beautifully. It is the auditory equivalent of throwing a stack of ceramic plates into a ravine just to hear them smash—pure, unadulterated release.
This piece refuses to wallow in modern alienation. Instead, it employs elements of funk and jazz-fusion as a spiritual detergent. It scrubs away the fatigue of the outside world, replacing the noise of demand with the noise of joy.
Is dancing alone in your living room a valid form of therapy, or is it actually the only sanity we have left?
