Tabos | Song Review

TABOS, or This’ll All Be Over Soon!

Stoked we got a new song today, Cook started with the tease on Monday and 5 days later, we got new music! Took me a minute to figure out what the hell Tabos meant, but shortly after hearing the song I figured it’s an acronym for the hook.

With Cook experimenting with the soundscape of his music, I never really know what to expect anymore, which is a good thing. I never know if we’re getting a rock song, or a more cinematic pop sound - à la Chromance or Strange World - or an acoustic guitar lead track - à la Fire or Fade Into Me.

This song rocks. The riff at the start feels like something we would’ve got off of David Cook (2008). The verses are serviceable, maybe they’ll grow on me more but the song really gets good with the chorus and the breakdown/solo. I love that ascending high pitch guitar or synth (I can’t really tell) that’s introduced on the solo.

I don’t know how he does this, but almost every single David Cook chorus just soars. It’s like no matter what the verses sound like, that chorus is gonna burst open and fly away. And Tabos is no exception.

I know the cover art doesn’t have anything to do with the music but let’s talk about it. In “The Looking Glass - Behind the Scenes Book” there’s unused single covers for each song. The Strange World cover had an image of an astronaut on the moon (I don’t have my book on me to confirm 100% but it was something to that effect). It was quite different still from this finished cover and I do prefer this cover over the unused Strange World cover. I just love how small and different the astronaut looks in comparison to the rest of the moon. The crater looks overwhelming to the astronaut in red, and I guess this deals with the main theme of the song. The light’s on fire but I can promise you / This’ll all be over soon. Basically, hold on, this all feels overwhelming now, but it will pass - Tabos.

I can’t wait till Cook opens up about the track, I can’t wait to hear how it came together, who produced and why. Is there more music around the corner? And how much? Are we getting another EP or will Cook drop his first LP since 2015? I’m really really praying for the latter, but The Looking Glass was great, and I’ll take quality over quantity any day of the week.