The Singles Jukebox

We’re mostly thinkin bout other songs…

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Katherine St Asaph: What I wanted to hear from Ciara in 2019 wasn’t really a near-remake of a Jason Derulo song, but at least she picked one of the cheerier ones.
[7]

Will Adams: “Thinkin Bout You” is admittedly modeled on the same chunky-beat lite-disco that was a mini-trend via the likes of Jason Derulo and others four, almost five years ago, but it’s nice to hear Ciara having a go at it and managing all right. It’s an adequate way to pass the time waiting for a song that never comes.
[4]

Tobi Tella: Listening to this, I felt like I SHOULD hate it for being a complete sell out. It’s nothing like I could remember Ciara doing, a far jump from woozy R&B, dance pop, and club bangers. The longer it went on, though, the more I was won over- it’s carefree and fun, even if it is watered down funk and the lyrics are empty. Sometimes I just want to turn my brain off and jam, and this is a perfect candidate for that.
[6]

David Moore: I like that this song appears to have no verses to speak of, or rather, the verses have been absorbed into some more fundamental unit of song, like Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocketful of Sunshine,” which is just as ruthless in giving you a good time you didn’t ask for. My attention span is all shot to hell, so I wish that this song was at least a minute shorter at the same time that I wish someone would make a 10-hour version of it, but in this darkest timeline of stray melodies groping in the dark for a chorus, I can appreciate how easily you could turn any fifteen seconds of “Thinkin Bout You” into a greeting card. 
[8]

Alfred Soto: Ciara’s had a second career getting written about for the record company mishaps of her first career, so when she gets a winner it’s reason to mix bellinis. A bass-heavy tune in which she reminisces about a guy who kisses girls and takes names, “Thinkin Bout You” represents what I want out of Ciara. Forget exclusivity, she wants to know if she at last made his list.
[8]

Ramzi Awn: Ciara makes it sound easy on “Thinkin Bout You,” a deceptively simple display of power pop that shows off her nimble voice and puts a stamp on CiCi’s legacy status. It is probably the closest she’s come to her Jackson roots yet, and the pitch-perfect production is clean as a whistle. In a career that has taken many musical risks, “Thinkin Bout You” is a moment of cashing in. This is a melody that was found, not written.             
[9]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I didn’t get “Level Up” at all when it came out– it felt like manufactured fun, the kind of song written for Target commercials or dance party scenes in mid-tier comedies that can’t outgross the third weekends of Marvel movies. “Thinkin Bout You” instead makes the case that Ciara is actually fun, a musical dynamo that bounces over a joyfully elliptical funk-pop riff. It’s repetitive and hooky without ever being boring, self-assured without being self-serious.
[8]

Stephen Eisermann: This song, much like “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monae, proves that Prince inspired tracks can still be great, as the combination of funk and pop just works so well when done right. Ciara gives the perfect provocative vocal necessary to sell the song and the lyrics do a good job of defining the feeling of infatuation. It’s all so romantic.
[7]

Alex Clifton: Did I know Ciara could channel Carly Rae Jepsen? Did I ever expect it? No on both counts, but I guess we’ve found the actual follow-up project to Emotion.
[7]

Iris Xie: I did not expect Ciara’s new song to basically sound like the funky, downtempo falsetto version of SISTAR’s “Shake It,” but the introductory verse is basically identical in melody structure, but while Hyolyn works hard to be the sexy, fun summer girl who wants to have the best time, Ciara is…just there?  I don’t really get who she’s trying to appeal to here, because the quiet, midtempo nature combined with the vocals can’t seem to make up its mind on how to be. It has none of the slinky alluring nature of what I would usually associate with her sound, and perhaps that’s the saddest part about anticipating an artist’s new sound. You would expect that it develops and builds on what made them so well-regarded in the first place, but even if they switch their sound, it would remain infectious and with a perspective. For Ciara, I always viewed her as an interesting figure of my preteen years, in Aaliyah’s shadow and as Missy Elliott’s protégé, who was trying to make an identity for herself and knew how to work a groove to get you to follow along with her. On “Thinkin Bout You,” she is no longer that, and this Ciara is now singing on a discarded track from Carly Rae Jepsen’s album, “Dedicated.” It has a feeble pulse, and it’s just a little sad to listen to. 
[4]

Leah Isobel: I hate having crushes.
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