Without hesitation, Final Draft lay into the verses of their new single and music video “Started” as though both patience and passion were required in making this latest release to bear their moniker in the byline a hit. There’s a delicate balance between instrumentation and lead vocals in this track, but as careful as the two elements are arranged together here, there’s scarcely a moment in which they aren’t totally and complete connected as they forge a beautifully cathartic finish for the audience. It’s a powerful slow jam, and even at a mere three and a half minutes long, “Started” feels like a crown jewel in this group’s discography.

WEBSITE: https://www.officialfinaldraft.com/

The music video keeps things on the simple side, but for what it lacks in theatrical bombast it more than compensates us for in its artist-themed dynamic. We’re able to see and experience an intimacy in the band’s performance through this kind of a setting that we just wouldn’t have been able to reach with a different artistic concept, and for what I look for in a new R&B release, “Started” is actually something that combines the best of the pop aesthetic with old school components a lot of balladists leave off of the table (for unknown reasons).

Final Draft weren’t a trio that I was listening to before getting into their music last month, but with the release of this single and its companion video I don’t think critics on either side of the dial can afford to ignore their ascent through the underground hierarchy any longer. This is a vocal group that can construct a near-perfect melody to the beat of a jagged percussive swing, and in 2020, that doesn’t just make them compositional mathematicians; it gives them a vital segue from the obscurity of an indie market into the bright lights of the primetime.

John McCall