The Singles Jukebox

Not the collaboration between Will Forte and David Bowie we’ve all been dreaming of, sadly…

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[6.83]

Iain Mew: If Frank Ocean can get massive props for pretty much straight up covering Coldplay, ForteBowie certainly should for his cleverer and more revelatory appropriation of Friendly Fires’ “Pala.” He takes advantage of the similarity of sung “m” and “n” sounds to turn it from being about Aldous Huxley’s utopian island into being about his car. On one level doing so is simply very funny, but it works so well because in the process he actually makes the setting sound more blissful and fantastical than in the original, largely thanks to his own first verse and his convincingness on the subject of finding God and heaven in his Chevy.
[8]

Brad Shoup: The track’s pulse quickens often enough to compensate for the metallic timbre of that starter riff (it’s the sonics, not the melody) and the dance-punk wailing before the chorus. The funk-pop call-and-response on the refrain and the spangled appropriation of “Spend It” are more than enough to paper over the American highway fatalism. We’re clearly in some sort of silver age for wintry R&B pond-gliding; surely it’s only a matter of time before Heat Wave sells out for some of that TSJ green.
[8]

Andrew Ryce: The only thing I’ve heard where it sounds like someone is trying to actively sound like Ryan Leslie. Serviceable verses and an absolutely gorgeous chorus that feels a little at odds with the rest of the song, both in the grandiose production swells and the sudden vocal switch-up. Oh wait, there’s a rap verse? Oh, it’s pitched-down? This is Clams Casino R&B and I don’t know how I feel about it. I wish he would just stick to how he sounds on that chorus.
[6]

Alfred Soto: The false ending and distorted bass voice are the only blemishes in this example of limpid electro R&B, which even has the courage to proclaim that God is in the front seat of our cars if we’d only look. Not enough courage to play it straight though.
[6]

Sabina Tang: The instrumental is an ever-shifting panorama: birdsong, a muffled kick drum, synths in a quavering Asian descant, flutes and woodblocks, washes and sudden blissful spikes of post-rock noise… Set against this background, the introspective hooks evoke indie-folk nearly as much as R&B. It’s the sound suggested but not delivered on by the phrase “Bon Iver rap crossover.”
[7]

Jonathan Bogart: I’m attracted to maximalism-for-maximalism’s-sake aesthetics, but the beat needs to be fresher if it’s going to bear all this weight. The pitch-shifted bits remind me of Odd Future, which isn’t much of a compliment, and the floating bits of the Weeknd, which isn’t one at all. still, there are hints that he can in fact sing; I’d just like to hear a better match between voice and bombast without all the pointless obscurantism.
[6]