Blu DeTiger – ‘Figure It Out’ Review

If I told you my current on-repeat song featured a singing bassist and is called ‘Figure It Out’, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume I’d reverted to 2014 and an obsession with the Royal Blood track of that name to forget about the current state of affairs.

Fortunately I have maintained some semblance of mental stability, and I instead would be referring to Blu DeTiger’s gloriously groovy most ‘recent’ (I think it was April? I’ve only just got on this bandwagon) single.

Now that my overly convoluted introduction has passed, just who is Blu DeTiger?

Quite surprisingly to me, the answer to that is a TikTok star. With over 700,000 followers and 10 million likes, I’m guessing she’s doing pretty well on there. With her content overwhelmingly bass covers, she seems like the equivalent to Davie504, only with less meme focused videos? 

Safe to say I don’t really go near Tik Tok and will be talking solely about the tunes from here on in.

Musically, ‘Figure It Out’ is heavily driven by the walking bassline that Blu keeps bounding along throughout the entire track. It’s not the most prominent sound in the mix but occupies its own space and gives the underlying energy. Sonically it’s very mellow, as benefits the laid-back tone of the overall track. Finger picking on a jazz bass is absolutely the right sound.

The rest of the instrumentation comes from drums and synth. The drumbeats remain simple and slightly trashy throughout, keeping to the poppy simplicity that makes ‘Figure It Out’ such a bop. The synths are reminiscent of a voice box guitar effect to a slight degree and are the perfect sparkle on top of the song. They come in harmoniously, where you may expect backing vocals instead, and give that extra push into funkiness to elevate the track from simply good to astonishingly memorable and a bit of a boogie machine.

Vocally, the simplicity largely remains. The lyrics focus on the titular refrain “We’ll figure it out / just figure it out”, and rarely stray from the disaffected melancholy that’s present in so much of the music I love nowadays. The small touches are what really make the vocal compelling. Throughout the track there are under dubbed comments and occasional building, emphasised lines with a more energetic near-chorus of vocals that seem to swing in and drive onwards. Providing humour and a bit of energy, it’s these parts that help elevate the song to more than just moody near spoken word.

Overall, a solid 4/5 for this funky, bass driven bop. I’d like the bass to be a tad more present, perhaps with a few more high runs with a bit of punch, and I feel that the vocal could have had a bit more swagger and energy without detracting from the overall vibe.