Synth Single Review: “Too Late?” by Reeve Stimpson

by Karl Magi

Reeve Stimpson’s “Too Late?” slides into being with a devious guitar line, classic ‘80s percussion and glittering synth accents as the percussion bursts and the melody blossoms in Reeve Stimpson’s magnetic, lively voice. The chorus is instantly gripping and the charismatic vocals deliver strength and a classic 1980s sound, while the news anchor voices add a fun touch. 

Reeve Stimpson’s playful performance grabs hold of me with its addictive and classic sound while energizing percussion leaps. The sax flies out with incendiary dynamism, reedy and full of erupting feelings before the engaging vocals rip with real power. The sax crescendos, mingling with Reeve Stimpson belting out the lyrics before the song ends.

As he asks the song's subject, "Is he somebody passing you can't let go?" our narrator wonders if that other person might be "a stranger danger" and he’s got to know. He wonders if he's the one "playing the fool" because he knows that someone else has caught her eye. 

Our storyteller asks if it's too late and it's gone too far, wondering, "is he the one in your heart?" He questions if it's too late for them to "get back to us" and queries if the song's subject is already in love.

Wanting the song’s subject to "tell me when did it start and if it'll end" because he doesn't like the way she says the other person is a friend, our storyteller wonders if he’s crazy to overanalyze the situation or "is somebody else now getting your touch."

"Cover the lies, you're hiding the truth, deleting the words so there isn't much proof" but the narrator can still find the clues that the song's subject has left behind as he fervently hopes that their “bed’s not the scene of the crime."