Emeli Sandé – Hurts
It’s The return of the UK’s Second Most Successful Adele! Read all about it.
[Video][Website]
[6.62]
Olivia Rafferty: Sandé is the go-to artist for cinematic. I mean, she performed at the Olympic Closing Ceremony in London 4 years ago. The sweeping strings and lead guitar turn this song into another Epic Emeli Moment, but the initial verse had promise for so much more. That wavering rawness in her voice over those driving claps gave the impression that we should have been gearing up for something a little realer, something a little dirtier than what we usually expect from Sandé. I’m still waiting for her to come through on that for me.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: I’m a big fan of the woman-tells-stupid-man-how-he-fucked-up narrative, and this is a strong entry. I wish Sandé had gone against what is no doubt her lucrative instincts toward pancaking the song with a choir, because she was carrying the song fine without help, and by the end I’m not sure I believe her. Might have been an 8 or a 9, but then I remembered that Anastacia’s “Left Outside Alone” exists.
[7]
Alfred Soto: You have to be, well, made of stone to resist the tempo change at the twenty-second mark. Then the track shifts into clippety-cloppety uplift over a mix as crowded as rush hour traffic that Fantasia would have weaved through. It’s not a “marathon,” I don’t think.
[6]
Anthony Easton: A human garburator of cliche, processing feelings into a fine slurry of overwrought vocals and even more overwrought production — loving this is loving the camp poperatic, in the same way Kiki and Herb loved Bonnie Tyler.
[6]
Will Adams: The way Emeli Sandé froths up drama with little material — just some handclaps and quick notes in the vocal — is impressive. The chorus loses the momentum a bit, but “Hurts” is fine theatrical pop, perhaps the kind that Lady Gaga should’ve looked into.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: Damn, some man did her wrong.
[5]
Megan Harrington: You know how you can tell you’re entering Oscar season because all the trailers are cut to emphasize their seriousness and highlight the human act-ing? “Hurts” feels like the musical equivalent. Did you know it’s Q4? Each quarter has a dated start and end point, but you haven’t truly begun Q4 until you hear a massive thriller ballad. Thriller ballad might seem like an oxymoron but “Hurts” furnishes all the chest pounding emotional dynamism without any of the treacly plod. It feels like pointing a wind machine at your heart instead of your hair.
[9]
Scott Mildenhall: A welcome return to the dark side, combining the gothic gloom of her earliest singles with the depth-rolling of her biggest. Why have one when you can have both? As she turns her wounds into memories into threats, “Hurts” is a reminder that while Emeli Sandé can be very boring, she can also be rather exciting.
[7]
Wow. Didn’t see this getting less than a seven.
I will change to 10 if someone mashes the verses over the top of “Stupid Hoe.”
^looking into this