The Singles Jukebox

This is “Woman.” Hear us roar.

[Video][Website]
[5.57]Katherine St Asaph: Surprising: Wynter Gordon, in 2016, is signed to 4AD. More surprising than it should be: her work on Lemonade, which was substantial (way more substantial than whatever fucking Vampire Weekend did), actually seems to have ingratiated her to the industry, if not yet to the critics. Unsurprising: It’s one of those “see, this is my real name, because now I’m making real music! moves. Also unsurprising: The “real music,” scuzzy blues-rock, is quite good. Still unsurprising: For its conception of feminism, she’d look to “Run the World (Girls).” Surprising (but then again, she wrote “Daddy Lessons,” so not that surprising): for her melody, she’d look to “Before He Cheats.”
[7]

Thomas Inskeep: Simplistic to the point of stupidity, “Woman” thinks it’s some sort of feminist manifesto when it’s really just a laundry list. WTF does “God gave you the answer when he gave you the woman” mean, anyway? Combined with nothing production and nothing singing, this ain’t much more than nothing.
[2]

William John: Wynter Gordon in 2016: signed to 4AD, bylining with her government name, writing songs for Beyoncé, and, with “Woman”, ostensibly writing songs about Beyoncé. This is throw-your-hair-around rock with venerational inclinations; Gordon, long relegated to the writers’ room, relishes thrashing around in the limelight, reveling in the marvel of womanhood amidst a portentous Southern Gothic arrangement. Stylistic bloodlines can be traced between “Woman” and the Gordon-assisted “Don’t Hurt Yourself”, but a more helpful juxtaposition is between this and Laura Mvula’s recent single “Phenomenal Woman“. Where Mvula’s song feted femininity with conviviality and the flavour of a jubilee, Gordon’s track is ominous, positioning itself as a battle cry, with a chorus ripped straight from the apocalypse. Two different approaches, both proffering a like and essential message.
[9]

Jonathan Bogart: I thought I was the only person who both remembered and liked the Avalanches’ remix of Wolfmother’s “Woman” (much better than the original, which is complete garbage) — but I should have trusted the former Wynter Gordon, whose “Stimela” is one of the best songs of the decade, to know how to take its rough ideas and make it not just a cute adventure in sonics, but a good song.
[7]

Alfred Soto: Of course I had no business expecting this scorcher, although Diana Gordon’s yelps and strategic gulps might have looked to Yoko as inspiration. But I also had no business expecting a cop of this huge hit from a generation ago. Maybe Gordon thought scuzzing up the track like she expected Sky Ferreira might have would enliven the platitudes. I can tell you that I expected stronger from the writer of “Daddy Lessons.”
[3]

Adaora Ede: The best part of Gordon’s new single is its situation as an intentional reappropriation of the gritty lofi soul sound from white duderock bands who have been jocking vintage black sounds for indie cred for decades because this is a style that has been missing from black popular music for a while, sans a sordid ~label~. The dismaying part of this is that you can only do so much with an alternate rhyme scheme and rhythmic distortion. Songwriters behind headliner artists (Gordon herself, writing for Bey and Rih) often find their hamartia in forming a pronounced face to their music, not even qualifying themselves for the small font on the marquee. “Woman” undoubtedly spells out a motivating message, but doing alla that with rehashed version of what sounds like a bricolage of a Santogold b-side and a Lemonade throwaway? Maybe not.
[5]

Will Adams: I might be the only person who still enjoys Wynter Gordon’s dancepop career — even she appeals to the “that wasn’t me” narrative upon reflection. But it speaks to Diana Gordon’s strength as a songwriter and performer to embody so many styles as well as she does. If the two Human Condition EPs and critically ignored Five Needle EP, released 2012 and 2015 respectively, represent a bridge to her 2016, Lemonade-boosted profile, then “Woman” represents an airplane runway instead of a rocket launch. With its crunchy pop-rock and brash attitude, it’s a clear and concise mission statement, but the kind that amps you up for what’s to come rather than what is currently happening.
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