Courtesy of Odesza Official Youtube

After a long four-year hiatus, Odesza finally made their long-awaited return on Feb. 8, releasing a masterful six-minute long track. Many fans had speculated that the duo might have separated and focused on their own projects, but this release only proves that the bond between the two is stronger than ever. 

Odesza, a group composed of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, formed in the early months of 2012 shortly before Mills and Knight graduated from Western Washington University. From their early releases to their biggest hits, the duo has always been known for their feel-good style of EDM, as well as their genre-breaking beat drops; there is no category of music that could house these two. 

With their latest single, “The Last Goodbye,” it seems as if the duo has switched up their typical style of EDM, opting to release a slower-style ballad with very hard-hitting lyrics like the opening line, “Let me down easy, for your love for me is gone.” From the very start of the song, it is obvious that this track is reigning in a new era of Odesza and what they can bring to the table. As the progressions begin to build, there are hints of the old-style Odesza music, but the first beat drop would have to be the moment when both styles, old and new, align and create something like never before. With their use of electronic synthesizers, there are definitely feelings from the older days, but even when the beat drops, the duo opts to keep the sadder chords, only speeding them up to move in a much faster pace. In the genre of EDM, the beat drop is typically a spot of the song where fans can understand what type of emotion an artist is attempting to portray, but this song is very contradictory with multiple feelings being portrayed at once. 

In the second half of the song, Odesza completely switches up the tempo by using a bass guitar as the leading instrument, bringing in a funky vibe from a different era of music. Unlike the more typical EDM track, “The Last Goodbye” seems to have two completely different beat drops, something that definitely keeps fans on their feet. To close out the track, Mills and Knight do bring back their original beat drop heard earlier in the song, and end it with the repeating guitar pattern that brings a certain melancholy to listeners. 

Looking to the future, hopefully this single is not just a farewell and fans can finally be gifted a full album after waiting for so long. There have been speculations around various social media platforms that the title of the track is a foreshadowing for the last album from Odesza, but nothing has been confirmed. The duo has yet to say anything about these rumors, and honestly, fans should simply be excited that “The Last Goodbye” is a sign that something new is coming from these two geniuses. 

Verdict: “The Last Goodbye” should not necessarily be classified as a sad song, but Odesza most definitely brought in hard-hitting lyrics with a groovy, funky beat to back them. If you are looking to get into the genre of EDM, this is the perfect track as it embodies so many different types of feelings.