“Perfect”
Writers: Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Jesse Shatkin, Jacob Kasher, John Ryan, Maureen Anne McDonald, Julian Bunetta
Original Release Date: October 16, 2015
I’ve never been a Directioner, but the older I get, the more I seem to appreciate their poppy offerings. Case in point, their penultimate single: “Perfect”.
One Direction’s ability to produce infectious earworms made them knights in shining armour in the pop world and this is no exception. “Perfect” is not quite a ballad—it’s relatively slow, but there’s a heavy beat that prevents you from falling asleep. I haven’t listened to the band enough to be able to pick out who sings what line, but I appreciate the way the guys’ voices work together—it gives the song multiple layers, as each one tries to convince you about which traits make him the “perfect” choice for you. Even when they are pulling out lines that seem to hit back at Taylor Swift (“if you’re looking for someone to write your break-up songs about”)…
I stumbled upon Beach Weather’s cover completely by accident—and completely free on the 8123 website—a little while ago, and I can’t stop listening to it. I’m not entirely sure when this cover was recorded, but I’m guessing it was while Nick Santino was transitioning between his solo music and Beach Weather, if only because it’s a lot more mellow (i.e. slower) than most of what BW has produced so far. It takes the song fully into ballad territory, making it languid and melancholy, compared to the upbeat original.
Yes, One Direction provided a great beat, but since I’ll always and forever be a Nick Santino fangirl, I’m going to say that the Beach Weather cover is, well, perfect (for me).