The Singles Jukebox

And now, an Australian Idol place-getter…

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[6.10]

Will Adams: Man, imagine if Pendulum had produced this!
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Serious jump-up drum-and-bass like it’s 1997 with a strong vocal; this could’ve been on Moving Shadow.
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: A song that uses up the drum-and-bass drop and the gospel choir and the horn patches and the heroic screech by chorus one and has Mauboy wailing “I made it through the night” like her ain’t-love has the stakes of the Australian equivalent of the battle in “The Star-Spangled Banner.” At least they’re trying.
[6]

Alfred Soto: Committed — to a fault. Blasting through polite drums ‘n’ bass skitter and nominal brass section but slowing down for an acoustic guitar, Mauboy projects energy-as-sincerity; she’s going to show you people how to handle a showstopper and you’re going to give her an award. One mode at a time, for my ears’ sake.
[5]

Iain Mew: This takes a very clear lead from a recent spate of UK singers appearing on drum’n’bass tracks — Sigma ft. Paloma Faith in particular — and is a touch too familiar as a result. Get past that though, and while Jessica Mauboy, journeyman pop producer Carl Ryden, and Fame Academy‘s David Sneddon have no particular experience in the area, between them they’ve written something that goes as hard as the specialists and gives more space to its singer to make its emotion work too.
[6]

Micha Cavaseno: Yeah, this generic ballad ain’t picking itself off the ground with this fake drum and bass energy. It sounds like a bad blend of Kosheen and Tedder. Plus Mauboy’s hurried attempt to get words out without enunciating them to sell their supposed significance might have helped.
[2]

Jonathan Bogart: I’ve always wanted to like Jessica Mauboy’s music more than I actually have ended up liking it, because it would be cool if the most successful Aboriginal Australian pop star was really great, but like a lot of smaller-market pop stars, she ends up chasing more trends than she’s ever set.
[6]

Brad Shoup: It’s a spiritual cousin to Emeli Sandé’s “Heaven,” which I guess means it uses drum’n’bass and gospel signifiers but also in making the slipping-sand nature of sunset explicit. “This ain’t love/I don’t feel and nothing hurts” is an astounding lyric; if it originated Stateside we’d be talking about it for weeks. It’s the fulcrum of the song, and nothing — not Mauboy’s high-alert vocal, not the remarkable seconding synth voices — dares contradict it. It’s a particular kind of bleakness, where the only pleasure comes from recognizing one’s surroundings.
[9]

Anthony Easton: An almost-anonymous — or the right side of generic — hook singer whose obvious formal skills slide under a production that works like a time traveler: some late Paradise Garage, some Miami Vice soundtrack, a little bit of house. A voice sublimated egolessly against a pure production.
[8]

Mo Kim: I made it through the night, she sings to herself, over and over. The drums keep pace, snare ‘n bass legs trained to run never looking back; the chorus of voices layer themselves over like a blanket to shield her; the pitched horns take on the quality of a rooster cry. This ain’t love, it’s survival.
[7]