The Singles Jukebox

Why does love always feel like a WHOA-OHHAAOHHHHHHHOHAAAOHHH…

[Video][Website]
[5.08]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: I wasn’t aware of this song until Gucci Mane posted a link on his Facebook page (since then deleted). When Atlanta’s most bipolar Icey Boy finds a pop artist’s new single interesting and hasn’t been paid to feature on it, I can only think of a few reasons why. Perhaps it’s the skittering, frantic hi-hats on the chorus, a Lex Lugerism if I ever heard one? Perhaps it’s the unconventional way that Lovato sings her verses i.e. singing while she’s seeming to wag her tongue from side to side? “Heart Attack” is tasteful enough, and I know I’d probably hate it if Rita Ora was performing it, but all I can wonder is what Gucci was thinking about when he gave Lovato props. Maybe Selena put Guc’ up on her (former?) BFF’s new material — although judging from the way she tells it, that could have never happened? THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT GO THROUGH MY MIND WHEN I HAVE TO LISTEN TO DEMI LOVATO’S MUSICAL OUTPUT. EVERYTHING BUT THE SONG.
[4]

Alfred Soto: If Rand Paul chose to filibuster a bill calling for federal funding of pop hits, this desultory performance will be Exhibit A.
[4]

Katherine St Asaph: Keep singing that hard, and you’ll have one faster.
[3]

Will Adams: Forget a heart attack: I’m worried that she might have a hemorrhage with all that shouting. That melody is nice, if overused, and layering it over the drop makes it quite bracing. Still, this needs to be transposed down at least a couple half-steps for me to enjoy this rather than fearing for Demi Lovato’s safety.
[5]

Brad Shoup: Ooh, the synth pizzicato is nice. Otherwise, it’s a Dr. Luke/Max Martin tribute: isolated acoustic guitar, that kick before the two. This is wicked frantic, but as usual, Lovato’s vowel-inhaling capabilities are giving me crazy feels. 
[5]

Ian Mathers: Regardless of who’s singing it, the whole “I treat everyone else like shit and it works for me, but you make me feel ~feelings~ and now I’m scared” trope is one of my least favourite in pop music; add to it all the weird gendered stuff in this song (has any male singer ever gone the “But you make me wanna act like a boy” route?) and this song just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, half-decent chorus aside.
[3]

Anthony Easton: The chorus is pure pop confection. Everything that is not the chorus is dross. 
[8]

Al Shipley: The anxious, almost histrionic edge in Demi’s voice suited her best on her rockier (and better) earlier records, but this finds a suitable halfway point between those and her more recent hits. The whole build from verse to pre-chorus to chorus works pretty damn well, particularly in that chord change that doesn’t quite go where you expect on “won’t let it show,” until you hit a wall with that lame title lyric. 
[7]

Iain Mew: The intro, with its dramatic strings bowing out for an a cappella bit that hits pitch shifted distortion as the lyrics hit heart attack, all within the first ten seconds, is awesome bombast of the highest order. The bridge is even better, “too close to the sun,” operatic flames bursting out all around. The bits of song between are a bit shoddy and the whole thing is held together with sticky tape, but it’s almost worth it.
[5]

Crystal Leww: This song sounds so similar to “Give Your Heart a Break“: fairly uniform sounding verses with a nice chorus you can sing along to building to full on belting as the song hits the climax. The odd thing is that lyrically, it’s the other side of the coin from GYHAB. Whereas the narrator in GYHAB is pleading for her guy to open up to her after seeing glimpses of past heartbreak, Lovato is closing herself off in the same was as the guy was, scared of getting her heartbroken to a guy who seems kind of special. It’s an interesting flip, and Lovato’s vocal ability helps carry her through. The “Won’t wash my hair then make ’em bounce like a basketball” line is kind of weird though.
[7]

Edward Okulicz: There are six really great things about “Heart Attack” — the individual notes of the hook, sung on the word “go” and the second syllable of “attack.”  Flicking to an acoustic guitar before the final chorus is a move in the wrong direction; this song needed a climax where the music rises to the occasion. As it is, the singing is a bit much and the rest a bit lacking.
[5]

Jer Fairall: Does so many things in its three-and-a-half minutes that it is bound to do some of them right, though most of these moments flit by too fast to register. Then again, in a song that refuses to sit still even for a second, it shouldn’t surprise that triumphs like her defiant sass on the “but you wanna make me act like a girl” bridge are so quickly obscured by an aggressively busy arrangement, or that her confident swagger on the verses are just as immediately undone by the overblown, Idol-ready chorus. The strings, and the fact of yet another “Heart” song, only serve to highlight the relative economy of the far more enjoyable “Give Your Heart a Break.”
[5]