Three whole integers in a day! Hooray math! (Also, hurrah maths!)

[Video][Website]
[5.00]

Anthony Easton: It makes sense that the only virtue of a song called “Not Giving In” is its relentlessness. Too bad that it refuses to use that relentlessness for anything interesting. 
[2]

Iain Mew: The last time we reviewed Rudimental and John Newman I spent much of my review decrying Alex Clare on the basis that “Too Close” was so bad at all the same things that “Feel the Love” was good at. Now they’re working together! Inevitably the results fall somewhere between the two, at their best when concentrated on rhythmic propulsion but at their worst when giving space for the grizzled vocals to annoy.
[5]

Will Adams: The chorus is more drum & brass in the vein of “Feel the Love,” but the euphoria’s deflated thanks to the dense half time verses. Elsewhere, “Not Giving In” is similarly disjointed. John Newman tries to hack up all the molasses that’s clogging his throat while Alex Clare caterwauls like he’s auditioning for X Factor. Maybe some more horns could have tied it together.
[5]

Jonathan Bogart: Newman sounds uncannily like Joe Cocker in pieces here, which pretty well sums up both the lineage and the ambition of this feel-good washcloth.
[4]

Ian Mathers: Love the vocals here, and it’s nice to see that quiet/loud/quiet is still a formula that works. For my money, the bits where the beat really kicks in is just as effective as a Nirvana track, although it’s probably doesn’t hurt that I already loved that beat from “Scribble” and elsewhere. It doesn’t quite build/gel as strongly as it feels like it could, but the ingredients here are mostly quality (love the horns, especially). Boo to the video for cutting the music at a climactic moment for the purposes of melodrama, though.
[6]

Brad Shoup: Alex Clare and John Newman on the same track? It’s an embarrassment and riches. This one don’t put me into a world-historical benevolence like “Feel the Love,” but I could see someone in the Aggie athletic department using this for a montage of Johnny Manziel scrambling for first downs. The bass drop is more like a slide across the table, Newman doubles down on the soul cry, and those uncredited cooing women represent the crossunder potential. These guys have a real sense for pop songcraft, that’s for certain.
[8]