Some titles make the “not a cover” joke a little beside the point…

[Video]
[6.71]

Tim de Reuse: You go in primed for Tracy Chapman, then you’re taunted by a meek bassline that, somewhat distractingly, follows the contours of “Electric Feel.” But when the song reveals its grand sonic plan, those comparisons become kind of useless. There’s a fine balance between prickly, percussive details and feathery ambience: the aggressively gated new-wave reverb on the snare drum versus the distant chords that glue the mix together, or the sharp vocal snippets that ornament Syd’s half-whispered vocals. You know exactly what kind of day the subjects of this song are having, and she’s barely got to describe it.
[9]

Thomas Inskeep: Icy-cool ’80s R&B (are those Linn drums?) in which Syd sings a love song to her girl, in her lovely upper register, complete with a Jesse Johnson-esque guitar solo.
[8]

Nortey Dowuona: When Syd gets on her lover shit, she’s unstoppable. The soft crooning she does over these silky, velvet synths is vivid and gorgeous.
[7]

Oliver Maier: Would be a pleasant, placid bit of pop if not for the drums, which are too loud and hideously stiff. Syd is far from interesting enough to divert attention.
[3]

Alfred Soto: From screech-guitar and drum machine to quiet pained falsetto, the ’80s signifiers line up on cue. There isn’t a thing wrong with “Fast Car,” down to the way it isn’t fast at all, other than its studiousness. 
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: Faster than that other “Fast Car,” but also much more clean. The song’s kind of like “Backseat” in how it sounds mostly like the idea of a car, not those bulky hulking things with metal and motor oil that leave noise and smoke in their wake. A guitar solo on the bridge tries to return things to the world of the tangible, its melody swerving like race-car wheels and skidding to a stop like brakes, but even this sounds too pristine. The song’s also kind of like “I Feel It Coming” in how it sounds way too blank for me and definitely too blank for the exciting exhibitionist fantasy that the lyrics want to be. Syd’s great at being chill and suggestive; this is just chill.
[6]

John Pinto: We’re going to lose something when the last cassette decked-out car hits the scrap yard. I’m not waxing nostalgic here about the actual cassette tape (which is its own thing) but the cassette-aux cord adapter. These are finicky little inventions, prone to distracting blasts of harsh noise if you drive over a bump or, y’know, do something in the front seat that bumps your car around a little too much. The modern automobile’s aux cord/Bluetooth setup is certainly an improvement in almost all aspects, but there’s no friction there, no delicious, contradictory need for caution. And it’s silly, but I think some songs, both “Fast Car”‘s included, probably sound better over the cassette-aux.
[8]