“Signs of Life” could hardly have a more literal starting point: Jeff Vidov had it in a dream. The Toronto-based musician woke from a vivid composition dreamt from start to finish and immediately sketched it onto a piano with a tape machine before losing it. That spontaneous act has remained the blueprint for “Signs of Life,” a vibrant rock-pop single of dizzying scale and confidence in optimism.
Built around rock solid rhythm, effervescent bassline, driving piano figure and a scorching guitar break, “Signs of Life” boasts a film score scope.
The inherent qualities of orchestration remain apparent in Vidov’s multilayered arrangement, managing to never undermine the live feel of a rock tune. “Signs of Life” bridges the gap between orchestral arranging and anthemic rock, bringing out the best qualities from both as instead of warring with one another it plays to each other’s strengths and here is “Signs of Life” greatest asset.
It may be rock with a bit of lush orchestration woven into its arrangement or a film soundtrack arranged as a poppy tune, but with Vidov, you get what you would get which is to say an incredibly skillful composer playing his first real rock track with a precision and scope not typically associated with the genre.
That said, the biggest strength may be its sincerity. “Signs of Life” has the bravery to present optimism not diluted by a healthy dash of irony or over-reliance on complexity. It could very well serve well as the quintessential, unadulterated summer smash.
The song is about unbridled creativity and the pursuit of dreams. The one downside to this approach is that as the more adventurous elements of the arrangement sometimes risk obscuring its simpler message, less music would sometimes have made more an impact, particularly a few of its less bombastic moments. Nevertheless, “Signs of Life” is ultimately an overwhelming success, a tribute to musical possibility from its dream-induced inception through its epic scale and refusal to adhere to convention and an indication that you can’t predict creativity in every way.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
