The Singles Jukebox

Meanwhile, our Sound Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ roundup continues…

[Video]
[5.38]

Alfred Soto: What a lovely track. London producer Mura Masa cradles Shura’s high, scratchy vocal with bells, flutes, offbeat snare hits, and strings while she harmonizes with her own distortion.
[7]

Will Adams: “Love For That” is exciting enough a listen for how many different ideas it implements within its three minutes. The key is that they’re all gorgeous, to the extent that I can’t latch on to a single one, so I’ll just list them instead: clipped gamelan and snaps on the verses; Shura’s Autotune-coated vocal, like frost on a window; a swerve into a double-time breakdown; buildups that portend a big release but fall into a muted, false drop; all bookended with a close-up on a string section.
[7]

Thomas Inskeep: I like the plinky production, but the flute really needs to go. A bit too pleased with itself for its own good.
[4]

Micha Cavaseno: There’s a weirdness in “Love For That” that doesn’t excite or please in particularly. It’s a roller that feels too abrupt and weighty to serve in its rolling. The tropical tinges of the percussion clunk a lot more than they ring, and the pitch-tuning on the vocal snatches have no earworminess available. If you hoped the song would transcend to a high that made you crane your neck in awe, instead it rises to about above your belly, only to dissipate to that territory just above your knees and beneath your crotch at a discomfort and obtrusion.
[2]

Patrick St. Michel: Tropical mumblehouse.
[4]

Dorian Sinclair: Shura’s vocal performance is deft, and there are touches in the instrumentation I really like, but something about “Love for That” fails to gel for me — the transitions between sections feel abrupt and poorly-placed, coming just as I begin to get into the song and jolting me back out of the moment. 
[5]

Megan Harrington: Light on hooks, low on melody, “Love For That” is incredibly texturally rich. Mura Masa have crafted a song that sounds like the musical equivalent of a Project Runway contestant set loose in Mood Fabrics with no budget. Strings cauterize and synths bubble and pop, Shura floats over the scene like spring’s first robin. 
[6]

Brad Shoup: I love all the details, even the one where the guy says “let me see your lighters” right before the glum tropical chorus. Everything presses with the right weight, leaving Shura free to get high on enunciation. I’m just wondering when the pitchdown ceases to be a production trick.
[8]