Geoff Ong's new single and video is a flashback to so much great 80's sounds, but yet it still sounds fresh like it's from Geoff. His unique approach to pop music is commendable. If you pay attention to the details, you can hear so much going on that it is anything but typical pop music of today.
The melody is an earworm that will get stuck in your mind for days, running around singing 'of all the hours we wasted'. It's a song that happily and cleverly reminiscences about great times that have come and gone. The music video captures this so well in that Geoff is strolling up Queen St with his guitar in what looks to be an 80's style filter. But the longer you look, the more you notice the background images are actually old memories playing. It's a collage of some of the times Geoff has had and doesn't believe were ever wasted. It is tasteful.
Musically, the way it sounds, the chord progression and the calmness in the voice certainly brings back memories for me of growing up. Life has changed so much since I was a kid but somehow I feel like I am transported back.
Geoff's ability to keep crafting pop hits like this is a testament to his craftsmanship as a songwriter. Pop hits that have so much character and offer the listener a lot to find in each listen.
Geoff Ong wants to be a pop star for dorks. “I love all the sounds and melodies of pop music, but I never really felt like I was cool enough to relate to the people performing it,” he says. “I figure there must be other people out there who feel the same way – my music is for them.”
Geoff’s 2018 single, Fingerprints, a shimmering slice of soulful indie pop, was recorded in his bedroom in Kingsland, with production, mixing and mastering by Phil Levine of the illustrious Igloo Music Studios in Los Angeles, who won two Grammy Awards for their work on 2016’s box office hit, La La Land.
Fingerprints made an immediate impact, peaking at #3 on the Hot NZ Singles Chart and #25 on the overall Hot Singles Top 40 Chart. It was also featured on ZM, The Edge, The Edge TV, and Radio New Zealand.