Shaking it but in a fleeting, forgettable way…
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John Seroff: Cool Story, Bro: The Song
[3]
Iain Mew: The picture that captured a moment is already a thin sketch of a thin premise for a thin-sounding song, but there’s a name signed as well? The whole “looking for the rest of my life” idea falls apart with the obviousness that, armed with a phone snap of the Polaroid, the internet could find its subject quicker than you can say Brother Orange.
[3]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: Finding ephemeral but meaningful relationships in a live-in-the-moment world can make for a cute premise, but “Polaroid” spends so much time explaining its rather bland story that it forgets to be a memorable song along the way. Also, given that you’re taking decent care of them, Polaroids take more than 100 years to fade, so…
[2]
Anthony Easton: The little falsetto in how he sings “Polaroid” is as charming as his full awareness of Polaroid’s essential flaws. I want more excellent-archival-knowledge-as-ongoing-metaphor for the ephemeral nature of desire.
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Alfred Soto: The voices blend well, I must admit, and the melody is sweet, so maybe if I listen to “Polaroid” a few more times I’ll understand how this trio can “dance without moving.”
[5]
Stephen Eisermann: Lennon Stella’s airy, smoky voice sounds especially refreshing here, and even Liam Payne sounds engaged, but this dance-pop track is a tad too generic for either artist to save. EDM producers, though, take note: Lennon Stella could make for a wonderful vocalist on a future, not same sounding, track.
[4]
Scott Mildenhall: Liam Payne The Semi-Anonymous Guest Vocalist is a much more appealing proposition than Liam Payne The Creative Visionary, and he’s complemented well by the even more unobtrusive Lennon Stella. “Polaroid” as a whole is pleasingly unimposing: cliches of lost love at first light and cliches of the Jonas Blue sonic palette, all carefully crafted by a predictable team of predictability specialists (JP Cooper’s fingerprints are especially noticeable). Music does not get more OK than this.
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