Now that taking a stab at eclectic musical styles is apparently the thing for former Swedish House Mafia members to do, it looks like Axwell decided to get onboard – for better or for worse. Shortly after Steve Angello’s Wild Youth: Chapter 1 proved that the Size Records founder had more to offer than big room festival fodder, Axwell has returned fire with “Waiting For So Long (Gloria).”
Unfortunately, though, what he’s lobbed into the air with this single has fallen tragically short of its target. “Waiting For So Long” tries to be too many things at once. It starts with future bass-like atmospheric effects before a Madeon-reminiscent melody sets in. Then, the horn section starts, and that’s when it loses you; it’s hard to even pay attention to the vocals with how distracting the rest of the arrangement becomes.
It’s alright, Axwell, not everybody can be a game changer. Why don’t you and Sebastian Ingrosso stick to putting out songs that will become the soundtrack to the festival experience of anyone in the 18-24 demographic and leave the heavy lifting for somebody else?