Sexiest Song of 2017 Alert: Syd's 'Body'

By Rich Juzwiak | January 24, 2017 | 7:30pm

Entertainment

As a slow-jam enthusiast I can easily see this one making my canon. A highlight from Fin, the upcoming solo debut from Syd (whom you may know as the singer of the Odd Future-affiliated R&B group the Internet), “Body” pits a gurgling ambiance against Syd’s tender, fluttering delivery. And then the song’s already minimal sound drops trou—the ambience evaporates during the chorus to spotlight Syd’s singular sweetness supported by the barest presence of a keyboard and the clacking of the beat.

Already complex notions of gaze given Syd’s verbal aggression (“Then I pull your hair / What’s my name?”) and the lyrical presence of a camera (a la Prince’s “Insatiable”) are further complicated by the fact that the object of Syd’s affection here is a woman. Syd is gay and her lyrics tend to be gender specific, even though conventional wisdom suggests that even for out artists, lyrical ambiguity is more consumable (see Sam Smith changing gender-specific pronouns to cover Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know”). But, as it often happens during sex, desire is louder than politics here and the scenario Syd suggests and delivers is nothing short of utopian, regardless. Play this one alongside Ciara’s “Promise” and Aaliyah’s “One in a Million.” I would love for 2017 to see the release of a better sex song than “Body,” but I seriously doubt it will happen.