LadyDot Review: Easy Swing

The first summer Electro Swing song of the year! James Jive and Mr. Harvey Miller – “Easy Swing”

June is the perfect time to slowly get in the mood for summer. We start thinking about our holiday trips (well, I’m actually going on a Eurotrip soon!), the sun is blazing, high temperatures encourage us to spend time outdoors, and Electro Swing artists prepare a whole host of fantastic summer songs for us.

This year it was James Jive and Mr. Harvey Miller who first presented us with a typical holiday song – “Easy Swing”. I couldn’t resist the temptation and simply had to write a few words about this song for you! :)

The result of cooperation between Austrian DJs

When I was doing research for this review, it turned out that “Easy Swing” is not the first joint piece by James Jive and Mr. Harvey Miller. These two Austrian Electro Swing producers released a song in 2019 with Crazy Red Balls called ‘You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet’, inspired by club rhythms and gypsy jazz. This composition is quite different from their latest offering. “Easy Swing” is much more accessible for me and blends well with other Electro Swing summer hits (which I will write about a little later).

Do you also have this feeling that when you first see a cover of a single, you already know what to expect? I had it exactly like that with the cover of “Easy Swing”. Retro dress, beautifully styled rockabilly pin-up girl with a cocktail in her hand… I was sure that in a moment I will hear typical holiday melodies. Especially because when I searched for other James Jive songs, it turned out that he really likes to use such summer themes in his compositions – for example in “Wanderlust” or “A Day at the Beach”.

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“Easy Swing” – charm in its simplicity

If you’re looking for a song that contains a lot of complicated elements and a whole lot of different instruments were used to produce it, I’ll disappoint you, but “Easy Swing” is the total opposite. In the beginning you will hear a simple melody played on the piano and gentle percussion beats. Then an effects-modified vocal and something… I’ve been waiting for so much!

As you know, I always associate the sound of the saxophone with the sun. It’s a bit as if every sound coming out of this instrument makes me feel warmer at once. A few years ago there was a time when almost every holiday pop hit had to include at least a short sax solo. And since then I can’t imagine summer songs without such an addition. Fortunately in this song the solo is very long, and with every sound of it I get even more in the mood for summer.

When I listened to “Easy Swing” for the first time, I immediately associated this composition with the Balduin duo’s song “Wimudo”. I think I’ll put these two songs close to each other on my summer playlist, because they totally match and make a really fantastic musical combination. James Jive and Mr. Harvey Miller wanted to create a holiday Electro Swing hit and in my opinion, they did it perfectly!

Written & reviewed by LadyDot (Ja, Wizeruk) Date: 2022-06-13

Bio – LadyDot

Anna (LadyDot) was born in ’94, but always felt she came from the Golden Twenties. “Polka” in Polish means “girl from Poland”, so she’s “Polka in polka dots”. She loves vintage style and spontaneous travels around Europe. But her greatest love (apart from her husband) is of course music, especially Electro Swing.

On her own Blog www.jawizeruk.pl she writes about various music genres. She is a copywriter, so writing is her strong point. Anna likes singing (not only in the shower!) and cooking (especially Italian and Hungarian cuisine).