I don’t know how much the Venn Diagrams for fans of British EDM trio Clean Bandit, American pop singer Julia Michaels, and Virginian trap-soul crooner DRAM overlapped before, but with DRAM’s clever addition to Clean Bandit’s “I Miss You,” those circles may have all moved a lot closer together.
A wistful, but upbeat, banger about pining for a lost love, “I Miss You” originally found Michaels singing solo. The mournful lyrics create an intriguing, magnetic contrast to the bright instrumental, making heartbreak sound surprisingly danceable. The “Issues” singer’s husky vocals underline the forlorn subject matter like she’s been up crying all night in the club.
Then DRAM (no periods) pops up to tell his side of the story, admitting “it’s safe now to say that I’m stressed out, ’cause baby I want you back.” He practically begs his old boo to “lose him, come through, and get this good thing” while admitting his own faults in the breakup. “I didn’t have patience to mend it / The second I left you right, I should have just waited a minute,” he sings on the bridge.
Clean Bandit is embarking on their North American I Miss You Tour through March and April, while Julia Michaels is nominated for two Grammy Awards for Song Of The Year for “Issues” and Best New Artist. DRAM is working on the follow-up to his 2016 debut, Big Baby DRAM.
