In a music world that frequently seems as if it’s racing to try and keep up with itself, Alex Slay and Clover Jamez slow it down on purpose, reminding everyone noises are often better when you just sit back and let them breathe. Their new collaboration, “Marathon,” is an opulent R&B slow jam, with cool confidence and chemistry propelling it along. Hailing from Nashville, Slay and Jamez make an impressive pair, both embodying a quiet strength on the track. “Marathon” draws you in with a silky groove that unfurls with soft precision.
The beat is mellow, the energy muted, and the overall effect is of a tranquilizing soundscape that sounds less like a radio ready single than a late-night conversation. And that’s what makes it so captivating. The appeal of “Marathon” is that it’s subtle. The vocal is the sort of track where every component knows its place, and respects it. The inter-verse trust that you can hear between Slay and Jamez, with their effortless feel for how songs build, makes verses exchanged act as both joint statement and private conversation. It’s a song about endurance, about keeping your cool under pressure, about playing the long game in love, life, the race or whatever.
It isn’t desperate for a hook or clawing for a climax. It’s a reminder that patience lands harder than any beat drop ever could. In a time of dwindling attention spans and everything happening at breakneck speed, “Marathon” is a reminder that some songs should be taken in slowly. It’s a mood, a moment elongated in slow motion. But Slay and Jamez are not in a rush to arrive at the finish line. Why should they be, when the trip speaks this well? Alex Slay and Clover Jamez are making a statement with “Marathon.”