Synth Single Review: “Count On It” by Star Runner & By Forever

by Karl Magi

Star Runner & By Forever’s “Count On It” slowly builds vitality from tones like sunrise creeping over skyscrapers before the beat joins By Forever’s sincere vocals and the energizing groove in his sung melody, while descending tones flash with gentle brightness.

Drums tick softly while the vocals drift with bubbly, uplifting feeling, jumping into the chorus, which explodes exuberantly while the rhythm cruises along beneath. A feeling like morning sun on my upraised face flows through me as the vocals wrap around me.

By Forever captures emotional depth in his gently touching performance, full of love and passion, metallic sparkles glinting like solar beams through a window. An easygoing groove locks in while the vocals fly with feather-light relaxation and glittering notes permeate from a saxophone that pours through the music like liquid honey, lithe and silken. 

Star Runner’s guitar shines like luminous brightness in the early morning while the hovering synth spills with serene warmth and the song closes with encouraging feelings.

Wondering, “What is this bliss that I’m feeling?” our narrator likens it to a fire that’s blazing to life. He’s “caught in perpetual healing,” meaning he could never leave the song’s subject at this point. He intends to awaken himself because “it’s easing the weight that my soul carries,” and he won’t run away so that they can “hold our peace.”

Asking the song’s subject what they have to say, he adds, “You loved, you loved, you loved,” and he could never leave them now. He continues, “With this real love, I’ll find a way to give you it all now,” pointing out that his heart will find the other person and that it’s something they can count on. Recalling what the other person said, their words like a distant memory, he says, “We whispered the night away and held our peace.”

Every time he considers turning away, “there’s something wrong inside,” but “I’ll just run in your direction.” He concludes that he could never leave the other person now.