Establishing the mood with narrated prose from Kenton Thomas saying, “Would you like me to tell you the story of the Black boy?’, expanding with a dimensional, industrial bassline and enigmatic piano notes, Marcelo Cervone opens Imagine If Black Boys Just Smiled at Each Other with drama and intrigue.
The opus expands with choral vocals, a question of “love or hate”, and a synthetic, electronica energy that has us completely in awe. A serene and meditative frequency amplifies love with a message of reclamation and the title of the track, before an expansive euphoric construction immerses us in a warm sentiment of oneness.
The piano notes return to guide us, allowing the profound message of the track to sink in further, inviting us to hit the repeat button for another round of consciousness expansion. Imagine If Black Boys Just Smiled At Each Other is taken from the soundtrack to an All Mixed Up film in collaboration with Channel 4.
The film was the winner of the Best Short FilmAward at Boundless Film Festival 2023, and features Black men discussing their experiences of encountering other Black men on the street – and the extreme, surreal polar reactions they receive.
We learn that the magnetic piece was composed by Marcelo Cervone (CBBC’s Andy and the Band, Sir Brian May, Nandi Bushell), recorded at Marcelo’s home studio in Woolwich, with mixing and mastering at The Bookhouse Studio, Bermondsey.
We love the message and the intentional depth that manifests from the opus, and have added Imagine If Black Boys Just Smiled at Each Other to our New Music Spotlight playlist, whilst we watch the film, and continue to explore Marcelo Cervone‘s wider discography.