It Took Seconds

Five minutes and thirty-six seconds: SWV - “Right Here/Human Nature” This was an important song for me - I first heard it years after its release, basically because I hadn’t been paying any attention to R&B at the time it came out, and its creaminess and heart completely won me over. It shook me out of the forming notion that perhaps R&B had only started getting good when I had started paying it attention - the #1 critical fallacy this, surely!

Of course it doesn’t hurt that it’s got a thumping great sample of one of my favourite Michael Jackson songs in it, but the voices (smooth, yes, but unshowy, honest and friendly) and that patient beat mean the non-remix version is a treat too, even if it’s not quite as beautifully indulgent as this full-length. It reminds me of Summer 2000, a time when a lot of things seemed unsettled which turned out OK, and subconsciously I guess this song helped convince me they would.

What would your 5’36” track be?