Slicing at the likes of Jeff Bezos and his devout shopaholic following, Austrian music superstar, ViennaCC strikes back with his latest single, the hilarious, catchy Shopping Queen. Taking a particularly sharp and slick turn towards a lesser spoken off social issue, ViennaCC decides to experiment with a catchy, campy single that utilizes some of his best production flares to date. The track immediately starts at 80 miles per hour with a catchy hook and distorted vocals from Vienna who’s performance here comes across in such a tantalizing theatrical manner, it’ll be a wonder to see this performed live.
I just want to make this painfully clear, that while this song comes with a very pointed and direct message, it’s not a lecture, so much as a hopeful plea for less stuff and more connectivity between people. I can assume living outside of America, the perspective on shopping might be a little different, but Vienna taps into what feels like comical lived experience narrating the life of an over the top, yet incredibly realistic depiction of the titular Shopping Queen.
Isla Fisher would blush (google the movie for the reference.) The song’s escalation is two fold both in the stellar and subversive harmonies that Vienna produces, utilizing his vocal range as a fantastic backup crew but also with the playful and multilayered track that he’s produced slickly, even as the song utilizes many disparate ideas and motifs. It’s a song that I can see having a universal appeal especially in the states where camp amongst clubs, both straight and in the LGTBQ+ community has become a staple. Honestly, it feels like the type of song that should accompany an equally expressive performance with an actor considering that lines like “Give me your wallet, carry my bags” has an almost Rue-Paul energy to it. If there’s a detriment to the song, it’s less so the quality of it as much as I can’t help but wonder how the average listener might feel.
There’s an excitability even though the subject matter that even touches on financial hardships (a bit about using rent money sticks out) that makes the song feel more adept for social situations than say a one-on-one in your home unless you’re in a moving and grooving attitude, which I can’t recommend for a song of this caliber enough. I’d love to see Vienna continue down this sonic path, because it feels like one more piece in an evolving puzzle as the artist only grows more confident within his own abilities, something that can feel rare in the world of indie music, let alone international music.
Vienna doesn’t strike me as one to care what you think of his life and work, but he wants to impact those who’ve got an open mind and are looking for genuine experiences. “Enjoy Life – Only James Bond can live twice” he states in a cheeky display, and as an overall message, it’s hard not to get swept up in it and truly abandon the Shopping Queen to her overcrowded material ridden castle. Fantastic stuff!
Rachel Townsend
The music of ViennaCC has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division. Learn more https://musikandfilm.com