The Singles Jukebox

Blogbuzz duo aims for a hit on their own terms…

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[5.00]

Brad Shoup: Aluna Francis’s leadership style appears to be delegation. She’s got
that drunk bee and Popcaan making moves for her. I can barely hear her project update.
[5]

Cassy Gress: That bit at the end of each verse with the warped “ah, ah oh” is tremendous, and behind that zooping synth, the keyboard stabs are twinkling sort of like sun on the ocean.  Some male-female duets don’t pay enough attention to how well the two artists’ voices fit, but in this case Aluna’s and Popcaan’s vocals both match the tone of the music, and that helps bring them together.
[7]

Alfred Soto: The synthetic distortions are hard to resist — had I my druthers at the mixing desk I would’ve removed Popcaan and turned AlunaGeorge into Justin Bieber.
[4]

Crystal Leww: Aluna Francis was the latest guest on Anna Lunoe’s Beats 1 dance show, and aside from picking an usually pop-heavy set of songs, she also talked a little bit about her writing and collaborating process. Francis has worked with a set of dance producers that most vocalists would drool at in the last three years, and despite her thin voice, she always manages to bring the emotional heft. As she explained to Lunoe, a key part of collaboration with her is the in-person aspect of it. She sits down with each producer to understand the headspace each person was in when they create a particular track and builds off of that. It explains why she’s become one of the best at creating that emotion on tracks, even while the tracks behind her often descend into loud chaos. I got into a heated argument at the end of last year when someone tried to level the claim that Francis was “lucky” to have George Reid. Reid is a fine producer, but AlunaGeorge works as a project because no one in dance emotes quite like Francis. Production-wise, “I’m in Control” could sound nothing more than an attempt to bite collaborators DJ Snake and Diplo on “Lean On,” but MØ was never good enough to sound this cooly confident. Francis is particularly great on that pre-chorus, which is shimmering, beautiful assuredness. Popcaan is great opposite of Francis, playing the role of the dude that is entranced. “I’m in Control” lets its star vocalist ride it out on something simple, which is the point of AlunaGeorge anyway.
[7]

Micha Cavaseno: Y’ALL ARE OUT YOUR GODDAMNED MIND IF Y’ALL THINK I AM GOING TO LET POST-DUBSTEP ROB THE ONLY GLOBALLY FAMOUS DANCEHALL ARTIST TWICE AFTER I HAD TO STAGGER MY WAY OUT OF “GOOD TIMES” WITH MY TEETH GNASHED DOWN TO POWDER! Not only has this whispery “WHALE-COM TO MAAAAI KEETCHIN” vine and her partner Mr. 18th rate Luckyme DJ set drum kits once again ruined a perfectly good amount of file-space in the internet, they are dragging down my boy Poppy with them. #UnrulyMobTaskForce #FreeWorldBoss and #StopTheBrits.
[0]

Edward Okulicz: I like how Aluna Francis’s voice sounds young but commanding despite her thin voice, like if any of a number of cutesy Brit girls had a backbone. Even amongst an onslaught of modern production tics and interruptions from Popcaan, she does sound like she’s in control, even when she coos “oh, oh, oh” coyly. She’s got a good voice for this kind of thing, but her and George Reid’s songwriting lags, tied up behind lots of production cynosures that swirl and flit around ungracefully.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Aluna Francis has a great voice, perfectly suited for contemporary electronic pop music: a little breathy with great control and a certain confidence easily ascertained from her singing. It’s obvious why so many producers have wanted to work with her, but she’s come home to her original concern, AlunaGeorge, for the new “I’m In Control,” a reminder to would-be suitors that they’re not in control. Jamaican toaster Popcaan nimbly provides counterpoint while the track glides along, bringing in just a touch of reggae rhythms with its lightly Skrillex-influenced pop. 
[6]

Will Adams: Aluna Francis turns in a performance that proves her title thesis ten times over, while George Reid turns in production that spends too much time chasing the sound that broke the duo via a remixed sleeper hit. Popcaan is… present?
[6]