So, this was something that was hinted for a while, but has just come to fruition. Blink-182 are back, with the original Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker line-up, and along with a new album announcement and world tour, a brand new track, called Edging. Being a fan of Blink for a while, I was pretty excited about this new reforming, and buckled down to listen to this new track, and here's what I think about it...
(Photo by Jack Bridgland - 2022 - Blink 182)
Edging is not good. I'm sorry, but it feels like Blink 182 are trying way too hard to combine so many of their different styles into one track. I'm getting flavours of their self titled record from 2003, of Neighbourhoods, of some of the Matt Skiba projects, but none of it is hitting particularly well, or particularly hard for me. The lyrics are a bit off too, and although I adore the harmonies and vocal moves from both DeLonge and Hoppus, the overall sound of the track isn't something that sits particularly well with me, both sonically and at a very basic level. It's choppy and volatile at the beginning, and then melts into a more self contained pop realms further on. The drumming isn't anything impressive either, not saying i could do what Travis Barker is doing, but I expected a little more from him - he seemingly put more effort into the MGK projects than this song, but at the same time, I'm very ready to be proved wrong. It feels like there's no maturity within this track, which I would expect a little from at this point. I get Blink 182 has always been about being a bit childish, making music about anything and everything, from growing pains to sex and whatever else, but this track is hitting all the wrong notes, it's title for one, the distasteful line about fucking in church, it's all just a bit...meh.
So, am I hopeful for this new era of Blink 182? No, not particularly. Sure, I'm going to listen to the new record but after listening to Edging a good few times, I really hope the guys take a bit of a turn, and make something that sounds a lot better in the long run, because Edging isn't a song that's going to stand the test of time.
Rating - 1/5
TLDR; Edging, like the name suggests, promises a lot, but falls painfully flat.
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