Great Good Fine OK, 2020 | Track Review 🎵

Brooklyn synth pop duo Great Good Fine OK usher in 2020 with a pleasant and sleekly produced single, fittingly titled “2020.”

‘It’s alright, promise you – it’s Great Good Fine OK!’ In case you didn’t catch the drift of my playful delivery, and are completely unfamiliar, Great Good Fine OK is a Brooklyn-based synthpop duo comprised of Jon Sandler and Luke Moellman.  Apparently, they were geeked enough about a new year and new decade, 2020, to drop a single titled, “2020.” Given that synthpop is their specialty, “2020” is a pretty sleek piece of goodness released just prior to – wait for it – 2020!

The sound goes a long way on the short but sweet “2020.”  The synths are slick, and the overall sound is clean and crisp, providing an excellent canvas to paint upon lyrically.  Great Good Fine OK not only shines instrumentally, but also vocally.  Expansive runs and gospel histrionics certainly don’t characterize the performance.  What does describe the performance accurately are cool, calm, and collected vocals, never too high or too low; more natural as opposed to forced.  Generally, the vocals are relatively quiet, packing more volume on the chorus, and being most dynamic during the bridge. Notably, some sweet falsetto is thrown in as well.

Of course, beyond the production and the singing, the most important aspect of “2020” is the songwriting.  Naturally, the year itself allows for Great Good Fine OK to play the time angle: “Time flies / it’s alright / to realize / That I’m never ready…”  Furthermore, on the pre-chorus, there’s emphasis played on age: “Yeah, we’re not getting any younger now / don’t tell me that you’re read to try / ‘Cause it’s 2020.” Of course, the centerpiece is the chorus, which cleverly references 20/20 vision in addition to the date/time:

“Ooh, it’s a little too late for you to notice
I need you when I was at my lowest
But now you gotta disappear
Ooh, you know that I hoped it wasn’t hopeless
I felt like my life was out of focus
But now I’m seeing crystal clear
It’s 2020.”

Final Thoughts

Unfamiliar with Great Good Fine OK, well, they’re pretty swell on “2020.” Why is it a success? Great production, respectable vocals that never overreach, and clever, thoughtful songwriting.  Boxes are checked off, so now, it’s up to you to make sure you embrace “2020” – the year too!

Great Good Fine OK • “2020” – Single • Warner Chappell / Transgressive, BMG Rights • Release: 12.27.19

Photo Credit(s): Warner Chappell / Transgressive, BMG Rights