Cole Cuchna

It's one of those moments that defies description, where words fall short of capturing the visceral joy, euphoria, and beauty you experience when hearing it.

In other words, it's the kind of moment that reminds you why music exists, a language that says what words can't.

Let's listen to a bit of the solo, then I'll try my best to talk about it.

Now as much as it pains me to interrupt the solo, I do want to walk through it section by section because more than anything, what I want to highlight today is its exceptional composition.

A lot of times guitar solos can enamor us with impossible sounding technical virtuosity, but in doing so we can overlook something just as important, how those notes are arranged to tell a story over time.

And that ultimately comes down to its composition.

Composition is the difference between a solo that simply shows off and one that actually captivates and moves us emotionally.

So even if Thomont or Guimond didn't physically perform the solo on guitar or keyboard in its entirety, they still wrote the notes.

They were the architects behind its pacing, its interaction with the supporting music, and its dynamic peaks and valleys that create a number of memorable musical moments.

And that's no different from what composers have done for centuries when writing for instruments they don't necessarily play themselves.

Beethoven, for example, wasn't a virtuoso violinist, yet he wrote some of the most demanding, arresting, and beautifully composed violin passages in music history.

He may not have been able to perform them himself, but he was still the one who imagined and created moments like this.

Now having made the argument for composition's importance to an effective solo, let's dive into Digital Love's solo section by section.

Like any good story introducing a new character, the guitar is given a memorable entrance.

In this case, it's that call and response exchange with Toma we heard earlier.

From there, the solo isn't in a hurry to dazzle us with virtuosity.

Instead, it takes its time building drama and tension, beginning with a gradual ascent from its low notes into the higher register.

Having arrived in this higher stratosphere, the solo adds a bit of flash, clearly imitating the finger-tapping 80s guitar style we talked about on Aerodynamic.

It's not fully unleashing itself yet, but it's just enough to show what it's capable of.

This is a pretty definitive end point and the solo could have very well ended here.