Little Boots – Remedy
Blackpool’s finest has another go at cracking the UK top ten…
[Video][Website]
[6.08]
Anthony Miccio: New York Magazine says “Little Boots Proves Pop And Personality Aren’t Antithetical” and that her songs “convey a lyrical depth and sadness most chart toppers pay someone else to feel.” That’s some serious bullshit to wade through, especially when her single sounds (and reads) exactly like Girls Aloud. Then again, I like Girls Aloud.
[7]
Michaelangelo Matos: First play: oh great, more U.K. poposphere-debate fodder that hits my totally-Yank ears as relatively thin synth-pop. Only the last five seconds made me want to play it again. The die held, but I noticed its efficiency more, and this time the chorus got me on the second go-round. I still don’t entirely know what I think, which is probably why it became debate fodder in the first place.
[7]
Iain Mew: “New in Town” was a showcase of electronic wizardry bolted onto a song that wasn’t quite ready for it. “Remedy” is much more satisfying because it puts the song first. The way it dives rapidly into a huge chorus then pauses for the shortest of breaths before panning out to reveal the even more enormous one is something rather special.
[9]
Anthony Easton: Is it wrong that I want Nancy Sinatra to cover this, now, because it seems to contain a lot more world weary loucheness then the vocals are capable of?
[7]
Chuck Eddy: “I can see you stalking like a predator” — an answer song to Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi,” maybe? Kind of impressive that Little Boots’s little voice manages to put those grim lines over, in what mostly seems an interchangeable Eurodance trifle.
[6]
Peter Parrish: I liked the Little Boots who used loops, piano and a Tenori-on to engaging effect. That Little Boots has disappeared. Now Little Boots has Satan as her PR agent and a cabal of production experts erasing every hint of dynamics from her songs.
[4]
Keane Tzong: It seems she’s actually a Eastern Bloc Eurovision contestant who aspires to be Lady Gaga. I should probably feel betrayed, but I’ll still be dancing to this. Grudgingly, though.
[8]
Tom Ewing: For such a pundits’ favourite, Little Boots’ #13 chart placing for “New In Town” was perilously disappointing. “Remedy” deploys bigger guns – it’s pitched midway between 00s Kylie and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, complete with one of those slightly coy music-as-metaphor lyrics SE-B is so fond of. And it certainly gives the impression of being a good old-fashioned pop banger, albeit a slightly second-division example. The only problem is that whatever character Victoria Hesketh had has been utterly rinsed out: this could be a demo from anyone on the Popjustice B-List. In fact, you’d probably judge it more kindly if it was, say, a Geri Halliwell comeback – Little Boots won people’s interest because she offered charm and intimacy, and there’s none of that here.
[4]
Ian Mathers: My affection for the brash, buzzy “New in Town” has only grown since we reviewed it, so “Remedy” is even more of a disappointment than it would normally be. That anodyne chorus might as well be Cascada minus the autotune, and if you’re going to write another song about the healing powers of dancing, you really do owe it to your audience to make it more striking than this one. This isn’t horrible, but it is underwhelming.
[5]
Alex Ostroff: Catchy, danceable, and overwhelming – this is standard fare for RedOne, which is a shame, because for all the overblown hype, Little Boots is capable of better. Stuck on Repeat and Mathematics pointed to some musical nuance and lyrical intricacy; Remedy dispenses with both, sanding down the few quirks Boots had, instead giving us something akin to GaGa’s better moments.
[7]
Additional Scores
Hillary Brown: [4]
Martin Kavka: [2]
Martin Skidmore: [9]