The Singles Jukebox

Today we answer the question, what’s Spanish for “The Climb?”

[Video][Website]
[5.27]

Gaya Sundaram: Another day, another Disney starlet making the transition into the mainstream. Violetta‘s titular star Martina Stoessel AKA Tini debuts with a single that is also the promotional single for her new film. Despite the European and South American setting of the film, “Siempre Brillarás” is country pop, concocted for crossover appeal. However, similar songs like “The Climb” (which shares a songwriter in Jessi Alexander) make this one look and feel a tad too slick, too generic. For all its faults, at least people remember “The Climb.”
[6]

Juana Giaimo: Disney realized that rather than importing TV stars turned into pop stars, it was better to create a Latin American version. And it worked — the TV show Violetta was a huge hit. Tini’s first single is a mandatory step of every Disney star: an ecouraging and innocent song to her listeners, telling them to be strong and that they’ll succeed. But if the idea was to build a Latin American star, why does she sound so generic? 
[6]

Alfred Soto: The production has a pleasing sumptuousness, but this doesn’t try to be anything other than a variety show ballad with a pleasing sumptuousness.
[4]

Cassy Gress: My Spanish ain’t what it used to be, and on a first listen, not being able to parse much of the lyrics, I would have given it a [7] – the melody line in the first half of the chorus has a great sparkle to it. But after looking the words up, and seeing how they more or less are a string of the usual “you can do it” sorts of phrases (there’s a fire in you, reach for the sun, don’t stop), I started thinking: what would I give this if it were in English, and I did know what she was saying on the first run? Closer to a [5], probably, out of lyric tedium. The sound transcends the lyrics to some extent, though.
[6]

Will Adams: Disposability that transcends time; the message and giant drums are clearly modeled on Rachel Platten, but those synth staccatos and “AYY!” shouts are straight outta 2009.
[4]

Patrick St. Michel: A solid pep talk, all soft passages giving way to big pounding choruses. Nothing particularly memorable beyond that if you don’t need a boost at the moment, but well done all the same.
[5]

Iain Mew: The piano and booming drums suggest something dark and cavernous, but then the synths flood in and cover everything in a dazzling light that doesn’t let up. It isn’t any less obvious, but is much more enjoyable, largely because Tini sounds so much more at home with it.
[6]

Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa: This is so faux-1989 i was kind of expecting a weird silence at the end of every chorus, followed by “… Y escribiré tu nombre”.
[4]

Brad Shoup: After a few listens I’m now waiting for the part where she sings “no pares” like Charlie Wilson does “nobody” on “Bound 2”. The synth hammers out a distress signal, and way too many percussionists get a say. But the stress Tini brings matches the arrangement nicely. I even wish the acoustic guitar was up in the mix!
[7]

Edward Okulicz: The intro promises a Selena Gomez “Who Says” style confidence anthem, and the song certainly sparkles enough to make that achievable. But the surprisingly heavy beats and painfully dense trance stabs make this sound rather uncomforting and, in fact, a bit distant and hard to believe for its own good. Delicate, but overdone, like a meringue left too long in the oven. I have an insatiable appetite for meringue, seemingly.
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: But I thought a trance remix of “Blank Space” was a good idea.
[3]