by Mark Cruikshank
This week Little Mix surprised fans with another track from their upcoming album, DNCE deliver a lacklustre pop tune, and Charli XCX releases her first single from her mysterious third album.
‘You Gotta Not’ – Little Mix
After the release of the highly successful ‘Shout Out To My Ex’, Little Mix have teased fans with a second taser of their upcoming album, ‘Glory Days’.
‘You Gotta Not’ is classic Little Mix track – a sassy pop production with a catchy chorus. The girls spend the length of the song tearing apart men who act like children before Perrie Edwards confidently takes the lead in the chorus to explain that she is looking for a ‘man’. Although it is not a complete new direction for the hit makers, this song marks another step in the group’s journey towards gathering a more mature fan base.
It is definitely not a floor filler but, ‘You Gotta Not’ is a catchy tune that you can dance along to when you have your friends round. It does follow the slightly annoying trend of using brass instruments in a pop song, but it doesn’t rely on it too heavily to make the song fun and interesting.
The track got up and dancing so deserves a 3.5/5 – can we please just stop throwing trumpets into pop songs for the sake of it? It’s getting a bit boring to listen to.
‘Blown’ – DNCE
Back with their in your face style of quirk, DNCE are again not conforming to the conventions of pop with their newest single ‘Blown’.
With a very early 2000s ‘song from a Disney channel film’ feel, ‘Blown’ lacks a layer that would give it a bit of substance. It has a very repetitive backing track with very little that makes you want to get up and dance, or even slightly move your body at all.
DNCE have attempted to create a song that is unlike anything on the radio nowadays, and they have slightly succeeded. However, just because it is different does not necessarily mean that it is good. Moreover, the refrain – sang by Jonas twice throughout the song – sounds very similar to the pre-chorus of Bruno Mars’ 2012 song ‘Runaway Baby’, making the song neither completely original nor utterly inspiring.
This being said, it is not unbelievable that this song could appeal to some people as it is somewhat interestingly produced, and Kent Jones’ verse is semi-enjoyable.
‘Blown’ gets a disappointing 2/5. It is much too repetitive and just sounds like the background song from a cheap movie or TV show.
‘After The Afterparty’ – Charli XCX (Feat. Lil Yachty)
Serving as the first single from her untitled third album, ‘After The Afterparty’ is a fun and catchy electronic pop tune from English singer Charli XCX.
Starting off very slow, ‘After The Afterparty’ begins with a simple piano accompaniment, which is very uncommon in a electropop track, but begins to build once the first verse starts and does not stop until the end.
This song is a decent example of how to successfully add layers to a song. It maintains its simple track behind the chorus while adding electronic elements that transform the song, without making it sound like you are listening a completely new one.
One complaint of the song is the awful auto tuned vocals of Lil Yachty. Although a rap verse is good to break up Charli XCX’s part, his lines cheapen the song and make it sound like a track by a thirteen year old trying to break through rather than that of an established contemporary artist.
This songs gets a 3/5. While not one to play at the party, it is one to put on the next day while tidying up and laughing about the night before.
If you want to listen to the editor’s other top picks of the week, you can check them out below in our new extended Spotify playlist:
