Don Diablo, Kill Me Better | Track Review 🎵

Dutch DJ Don Diablo, assisted by Kazakhstan DJ Imabek & pop standout Trevor Daniel, delivers a surefire electronic bop with “Kill Me Better.”

“Ifell in love with the warzone / This is not my home / This I s just a place where I’ve been…” Ah, there is nothing like a rad electronic song, is there? Whether you agree with that assertion or not, you might be persuaded by the bop at hand, 🎵 “Kill Me Better.”  Yes, it’s a somewhat morbid and contradictory title, but the song itself is rad. Dutch DJ and record producer 🎙 Don Diablo serves as the lead artist, with his works behind the boards speaking volumes.  🎙 Imanbek, a young DJ from Kazakhstan, joins him.  Sweetening the deal and providing the biggest punch are the vocals of ascending pop singer, 🎙 Trevor Daniel.  Look at the personnel folks – there was no way that “Kill Me Better” would’ve been no less than a BOP!  

As to be expected, there are numerous writers that make “Kill Me Better” go.  Besides Don Diablo (Don Pepijn Schipper), Imanbek (Imanbek Zeikenov), and Daniel, 🎙 Federico Vindver, 🎙 Jose A. Velazquez, 🎙 Martin Sonderen, and 🎙 Micah Asher Martin contribute their pen. From an instrumental standpoint, “Kill Me Better” is awesome, with its energetic, inescapable synthwave vibes on full display. There’s definitely an 80s vibe in play, but clearly, “Kill Me Better” sounds like a proud product of 2020.

Of course, beyond the masterful production by Don Diablo, it is the vocals of Trevor Daniel that bring “Kill Me Better” to life.  Daniel has a stunning voice, something I’ve praised over and over, particularly on his own 2020 album, 💿 Nicotine.  Here, he brings something of an emo/punk vibe, which is super cool when mixed with the synthwave sound.  Furthermore, the lyrics only add to this emo-tilt, particularly the pre-chorus:

“Gotta kill another demon left in my head
He’s been scheming no the walls and under my bed
It’s these suicidal thoughts that I’m fed
Welcome to my American wasteland.”

Of course, the chorus, excerpted at the top, and the post-chorus are key pieces that make “Kill Me Better” utterly superb.

Final Thoughts 💭

Don Diablo, Imabek, and Trevor Daniel make one heck of a team, period. They definitely deliver a surefire electronic bop with “Kill Me Better.” Great production, great writing, and awesome singing check off all the boxes of a hit in my book.

🎙 Don Diablo • 🎵 “Kill Me Better” (w/ Imanbek, Ft. Trevor Daniel) • 🏷 HEXAGON • 🗓 10.30.20

[📷: HEXAGON]