Music Review // Jade Monet "Too Hot to Behave"

 

As soon as "Too Hot to Behave" begins you hear this bass line and I immediately imagine that big, upright jazz bass that one would play for this exact type of song.  Somewhere in a smoke-filled bar where the majority of the people were about to skip out on their tab comes Jade Monet singing on the stage in a way that might remind you of a real life Jessica Rabbit.  The vocals are the focus of the song here, however the way that the sax comes in and just creates that night club jazz feeling can also remind me of artists such as Amy Winehouse.  

One of the things I like about this song is that there are the lyrics: "You stare at my mouth while I’m talking / I pause on a dangerous word / Let silence finish the sentence / Let your imagination whirl".  I often do not look people in the eyes when I'm talking to them, but instead I do focus on their mouth because it gives me that indication if they are done speaking so it can be my turn to talk next.  But to turn this idea into one where they're hanging on your every word, watching your lips because perhaps they want to kiss them, it just makes a clear statement.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of this song, which you can also get from the title, is how it is suggestive.  There are musicians out there today, if you listen to the radio, who are just flat out vulgar- and if that's your thing, I'm not disrespecting it.  But there was certainly a time where people couldn't even say the word "damn" and so they had to have songs such as this which would pass the radio check of clean lyrics but also just get the guy who just finished his 9-5 job in the factory all hot and bothered as he heard this while having a drink to relax.

I've always really enjoyed the songs where you don't have to spell everything out for the listener and things can just become understood by logic.  In some ways, I think songs such as this which feel suggestive are hotter than songs which just spell out what one person wants to do to another in a way which might not be radio friendly.  Regardless, Jade Monet has a sound from a mostly forgotten era that also makes you think (and feel) when listening to the lyrics, so let's bring this back for the betterment of us all.