Jesse Markin - Blog Posts
UMK 2024 Song Review - Jesse Markin
The hype is very real around Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish national selection for Eurovision and the race to Malmö continues with another entry!
Jesse Markin - Glow
Jesse Markin is one of the most promising upcoming Finnish indie artists who released his debut album Folk in 2019 and was widely awarded for it for example with an Emma (Finnish Grammy) as the best newcomer in 2020. He released his follow-up album Noir in 2021. Musically he would be categorized as a rap artist but his music is greatly influenced by other genres which shows also in his UMK 2024 entry.
He is one of the rare UMK artists taking a stand announcing that in case of winning UMK he would not go to Malmö if Israel participates ESC 2024.
Glow written partly in Finnish toilets but also in the streets of Ghana, is definitely something else. A fresh summer breeze in the middle of cold January - this is a song that no one expected to receive from Finland.
This ain't a simple track, instrumentally rich, would even call it noisy - a lot is going on in here. I hear reggaeton, afro-beats, hip hop / rap, electro / house well, smoothly produced urban sounds - musically this reminds me of Black Eyed Peas a bit. Chorus is memorable and uplifting with "you're gonna make it" where the verses tend to remain a bit flat.
The song doesn't have really a proper bridge and I don't think the rap section in the halfway of the song should be considered as such. And I don't think it's giving the correct energy here but this might be a personal preference. The track seems then a little long and repetitive. Visually this is on of the weakest of UMK video clips this year. Even though the lama is kind of cute!
However, there's a lot of love for this song out there. For those into this kind of genre, the track is an instant earworm but for others it has a risk of disappearing in the background as.. well background music. When speaking about views on YT and streams on Spotify Glow is losing in both lists for its competitors (being 7th and 6th). But Glow does serve a strong feel good vibe and I'm so glad it's here! It does bring light and different perspective to the 2024 UMK line up.
What do you think of the fourth UMK24 track and would you vote for Jesse Markin to go all the way to Malmö? UMK final takes place on February 10th!