The Singles Jukebox

2010 eternal…

[Video]
[3.44]

Katherine St Asaph: In GIF form!
[2]

Alfred Soto: Biebs’ next #1 with a bullet!
[1]

Ian Mathers: Sometimes I read things backwards without noticing and I clicked “play” thinking this was by U2, and even with those low expectations I was VERY DISAPPOINTED.
[1]

Thomas Inskeep: David Guetta apparently thinks OMG THE DROP is still a thing. Justin Bieber knows that he doesn’t have to put forth any effort to have a hit, because right or wrong he’s the king of pop rn. Combine the two and you get nothing.
[2]

Micha Cavaseno: Guetta, both with the build and the breakdown, reveals that he’s starting to mistake his job for writing Roxette songs. Normally that wouldn’t be anything to take issue with, but compared to the heights both in abrasion and climax that everyone else in the world is reaching, one shouldn’t feel like they’re making second-tier glam-pop. Cute talkbox splashes though; I’d actually want to hear Bieber try to throttle his throat with that.
[3]

Scott Mildenhall: It wouldn’t be surprising if even Guetta himself didn’t know this was what he sounded like now, but he should be pleased either way: it sounds like a Justin Bieber song! Allied with having Bieber appear on it, he’s earned a relevance extension. Naturally this does not make him pop’s Theresa however, because Bieber’s evangelism is a benevolent one, desperate for the song to transcend. Sadly the floaty, faintly hymnal chorus doesn’t really hit the heights of last year’s “Let Me Love You,” but daintily melodic pseudo-sincerity over twitches and glitches is nonetheless where the man makes hay.
[6]

Jonathan Bradley: In this unadorned state, Bieber’s tenor is an instrument that does what music at its most rudimentary is supposed to do: it does not elucidate character or emotional complexity, and it is not a feat of technique; it is a nice-sounding noise. Guetta has no need for character or complexity; he wants loud noises we can dance to. Unity of purpose can be its own undoing, however; a melody should not resolve this easily outside of the space of nursery rhymes and sitcom title music. As the central motif pulling these dramatic builds and wubs together, this tune creates what should not be able to exist: sounds that are too dumb for a Guetta song.
[4]

Anthony Easton: Like clouds crossing through a July blue sky, Bieber’s gorgeous voice flirts against gender and genre. Him as a hook singer keeps pushing production that is not as earnest, or as church-boy angelic, as his formal choices. It’s one of the more interesting aesthetic 180s I have encountered in my ears listening to pop — made even more so by how careerist it is.
[7]

Stephen Eisermann: The pre-chorus (minus the build up and terrific drop) is straight out of a post-Disney, Hollywood Records artist debut single, but I’m not mad about that. More importantly, David Guetta’s production here takes me back to 2010 when dubstep still felt kind of fresh in popular music. Basically, Justin could do worse. 
[5]