By exploring metaphor of a tragic event into a tale with similar meaning, Christos Tsantilis, formerly of NOSUGA, has interwoven a powerful expression on his track Shiny Gun. Originally written in 2002, his track was created by NOSUGA to deal with the suicide death of a close friend. Rich with imagery and powerful symbolism; Shiny Gun tells the story of the protagonist receiving a shiny new gun, and the consequences thereafter. “Thought I knew so much, and my baby tried to tell me, please don’t point that gun”. As the tale unfolds the speaker is reproached by his sudden misfortune, and “Accident no one believes”, and the painful realization she is dead, “Wake me from this real-life dream”. Shiny Gun has a contemporary pop/rock style song structure while lending from the hip-hop influences to intertwine powerful vocal hip-hop harmonies in the recapitulation. The catchy chorus coupled with the clear vocals gives the listener a satisfying yet challenging track. An original NOSUGA track, Shiny Gun draws parallelism to Hot Girl Light Me Up with its ability to tell weave a narrative, while the contrasting melodies offer an exclusive perspective of the group.

From a production standpoint, Shiny Gun possesses a fresh, crisp sound, as each frequency is clearly defined over the listening field. The vocals are well within the key of the melodic rhythm it accompanies, even when he reaches into his upper register, it sounds effortless. The instrumentation presented is mature and professional; the addition of scratching adds to the hip-hop feel, yet used sparingly to not overshadow the pop/rock sentimentality. The effective use of a traditional guitar solo at the outset is a clever touch to showcase the guitarist’s adept abilities, while not taking away from the theme of the track. Although Shiny Gun deals with the eloquent, sensitive subject matter, the track is enjoyable, with high replayability and its radio-friendly nuances, this track could be used in any contemporary radio playlist.

--Lee Callaghan