The Singles Jukebox

Good morning! From Iain, a Vietnamese “top sad banger with filthy bass drop”…

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Iain Mew: It’s not just the “you and me” repetition that makes me think back to Medina, as the deep electronic throb soaks in the same feeling, even when it’s updated with dubstep vworps and beyond. The bigger difference is Hồ Ngọc Hà’s vocals, which are smeared across the surface of “Em Muốn Anh Đưa Em Về,” subservient to that mood.
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Tim de Reuse: It’s got early-aughties electronica synth design, a late-aughties electrohouse midsection, and a boatload of raw, overdramatic sincerity. That’s interesting, I guess, but past the initial nostalgia trip there’s not a lot there to grab the attention.
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Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The production is a collection of “dark” EDM-pop signifiers strung together without care for cohesion (including an inexplicable bro-step break that feels cut and pasted from another song). But Hồ Ngọc Hà’s vocal performance, breathy and triumphant, is good enough to excuse such uninspired work.
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Hannah Jocelyn: The verse is refreshingly spacious, the pre-chorus is gorgeous (I love how the Auto-Tune artifacts sound on “baby!”), but 40 seconds in this 3:41 song are dedicated to an awkwardly fitting drop. It’s fine at first, though the dated chopped_vox samples are distracting, but as soon as the bass comes in, the song loses focus. The second drop in the final moments is much better placed, but no song with vocals and melody this delicate  — even this bouncy — should have a breakdown that sounds like it came from the post-“Bangarang” era.
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Julian Axelrod: As the first chorus sizzled and squeaked and slowly escalated, I thought, “This is the drop they built the song around?” And then it hit: the kind of big, squelching bass thwack producers used to kill for, dripping with aggression and drained of all subtlety. But the effect is less “Cool drop!” and more “Oh, so there’s the other drop.”
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Joshua Minsoo Kim: The payoff isn’t quite as exhilarating as the end of “What Is Love?” but there’s quite a bit of ferocity to the horns and dubstep wobble. They’re self-assured and brash, revealing just how committed Hồ Ngọc Hà is to obtaining this love. “I want you to take me home” sounds sensual at first, but it can become a threat if need be.
[5]

Edward Okulicz: There’s a three-note melody that pops up in the verses that keeps making me think it’s going to explode into “Self Control” by Laura Branigan. While most songs should at least consider doing this, this settles into a kind of electronic pop that feels about 10 years old but is still welcome. Hồ Ngọc Hà navigates the cut-up vocal swatches with a felt, longing performance. “You and me,” she sings in English, but you don’t need the words to understand.
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