What IS the way we were?

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[4.57]

Natasha Genet Avery: There are too few string parts on top 40 these days for this attempt to emulate “Rather Be” to go unnoticed. Clocking in at under three minutes, “The Way We Are” feels rushed and overproduced, and the faux-spirational, nonsensical lyrics (“we are the miracle, lightning bolt” or “show them your light/don’t turn them down,” among many others) only add insult to injury.
[3]

Iain Mew: Ah, there’s nothing like blatantly lifting a recent popular sound and shining it up for your own ends. So: Sparkling Bandit.
[5]

Alfred Soto: It’s got the faint acceleration and canned horns of K-pop — even hints of the house revival in the electronic swirl of an opening — but little personality.
[5]

Micha Cavaseno: It’s regarded as a return to Dixon’s work in Mis-teeq’s flirtations in garage when in reality it’s her trying to get some of that Clean Glynne money. And more power to her because while her phrasing is co-clipped and full of EMPHASISIS they’re dorks who spent more time at university studying opera than trying to get in the Palace Pavillion.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Wants to sound like ’92 CeCe Peniston, actually sounds like ’96 Gina G.
[3]

Scott Mildenhall: A song to be filed alongside Tinie Tempah’s current number one. It’s brasher, but just as breezy: these sketchy lyrics would not fly in any more serious an environment. Given that this and the scheduled album are being self-funded it should be exactly what Alesha wants, and on this occasion that’s something far less distinctive than the best she produced while beholden to major labels, rap mix notwithstanding. Maybe that stuff is in the pipeline; either way, concertedly unchallenging is hardly a bad trait.
[7]

Brad Shoup: Absolutely no foul, no harm from this corporatized parade nonsense.
[4]