Are you familiar with Q? No, we’re not going all Sesame Street and talking about the letter. We’re talking about Q Marsden, the rising star who first stepped on the scene with his debut album Forest Green back in 2019. Since then, the young artist has been on a bit of an ’80s kick, mining the sound on his 2021 release The Shave Experience (Director’s Cut) and his later singles. He’s still doing the time warp with his latest release, the synth-filled cut “LUV (I KNOW I WANT THIS FOR REAL).”
Describing “LUV” as synth-filled isn’t actually accurate. It’s actually synth-laden. Like Prince, Ready For The World, The System and many other artists before him, Q dives into the sound with glee on the track. It starts with the hit of programmed drums soon followed by a distorted vocal chanting, “I think I found it / I can’t seem to stop it / The love is going crazy / I think I need to stop it.” It’s a motif that’s used throughout the track, mingling in with the crush of chords, bass and flourishes that are sure to have you checking your calendar to make sure it’s not 1985.
Q, meanwhile, plays the role of a lovesick hopeless romantic who’s in search of the real thing. He’s tired of trying to make love work in one-sided relationships only to watch it crumble at his fingertips and thinks that he might’ve found someone to give it a real go with. “I know I wanna get this for real / I’m sick and tired of lying in love / That never wants to be real,” he sings on the chorus alongside an almost-choral arrangement of backing vocals.
To accompany the song, he’s released a performance visual of sorts that gives us some insight into him as an artist. We see young Q in his element as he hits the studio. He’s dancing up a storm, showing off more than a few smooth moves as the music takes over his body. Rumor has it that we might be mirroring his exact moves here at SBHQ every time this song gets played. We, of course, can neither confirm nor deny that.
If you’re new to Q, you should get yourself acquainted as soon as possible. We suggest starting your exploration of his catalog with the stream of “LUV (I KNOW I WANT THIS FOR REAL)” and its performance video below and then working your through his other stellar releases.
