The Singles Jukebox

Hey, that’s a good score! No side-eye allowed…

[Video][Website]
[6.62]

Iain Mew: Last time we encountered Sơn Tùng, adding a bit of energy to trop-house-R&B was as far as he went, but this is something else entirely. In a song as lavish as its historical fantasy video, he swoops and soars over a landscape of traditional instruments and gorgeous electronic crunches, confidently surging into ever more spectacular new territories.
[9]

Will Adams: A blizzard of ear-tickling sounds — tactile gated synths, nimble bell figures, scalar stabs (like a beefed-up “Cry Me a River”) — that gloriously smash together in a blistering final act.
[7]

Lilly Gray: There are two things I’m a surefire sucker for in this world, and one of those is dramatic, soulful flute used as a melancholy juxtaposition to a more modern musical composition. Really gets me where I live, for whatever reason. The other is beautiful men with long hair looking sulkily into the distance, so imagine my delight at this MV. “Lạc Trôi” has a familiar staggered, blurry beat that was more popular several years ago. Son Tung M-TP’s affecting, lovely voice is perfect for a song titled “Lost.” The end goes a bit wild, with phone mis-dial decorative flourishes and peeping (plus that rap is no real prize) but the little uptick in tempo before the chorus, which is rattled-off in an up-the-stairs clatter with those fuzzy, proto-dubstep stings and pulls you through a dizzying, halt-and-go waltz with a firm hand. 
[7]

Alfred Soto: The beat creates the waiting-for-tonight suspense of late ’00s Ciara productions, and just when I thought it had exhausted itself I heard new sparkles, keyboard runs, and vocoder excerpts. An immersive single.
[7]

Ramzi Awn: The chorus is packed to the brim on “Lạc Trôi,” an aching melody with a beat that instantly seduces you. The weight of the song benefits from the stripped-down post-chorus, but not quite enough.
[5]

Juana Giaimo: “Lạc Trôi” is truly fascinating in how it shifts from smooth and hypnotic R&B to rather aggressive hip-hop. His voice adapts well, and both parts are convincing, but I just have a hard time listening to them together in a same song.
[6]

Adaora Ede: Is it now law that you can’t have a cool pop song without trap interjections? The modern era really is a different time now, in that beside plucked strings and traditional wind instruments, we’ve got to implement our fave skulking multisyllabic flow. The borrowed ad-libbing is delightfully lethargic, maybe to the benefit of Sơn Tùng M-TP who seems, much like any current popstar, is ardently trying to pull off that jumped-outta-bed-with-this-perfect-house-beat flex. Against the edgy hip hop inspiration that Sơn Tùng M-TP wants us to find, “Lạc Trôi” climaxes at its nerdiest — Nintendo-tune synth rock.
[5]

Micha Cavaseno: It is truly so weird to hear the rush of triplet flows that are so beholden to Atlanta find a home in Vietnam of all places. “Lạc Trôi” is fascinating in its hyrbidality, watching tricks from trap (both in its proper and EDM-distorted contexts) get used to prop this blend of “west and east.” It helps that it’s not, say, Baauer on an orientalist kick but someone actually playing with tropes of the present and their cultural past. There’s a restless ambition to the song that even with its standard structure, it never ever feels like he’s repeating the obvious catch and release patterns of so many Pavlovian “Wait For The Drop/Hook!” expectations built into us over the years. Were there any complaints, it’s simply that I can’t pin down a hook that stays with me, but am I ever not intrigued? Hardly.
[7]