Friday, June 14th, 2019

Betta Lemme – Play

Roll another phat one, Dave…


[Video][Website]
[6.43]

Alfred Soto: The week’s not over, plenty of time to review songs with hooks this obnoxious. 
[3]

Edward Okulicz: Da Hool’s “Meet Her at the Love Parade” is such an obvious song to interpolate I can’t believe nobody has done it before. It has a still-distinct sound, a hooky bit to repeat and a (comparatively!) boring bit to throw away to make it sound as fun on the radio as it was in the club. Betta Lemme has taken a fairly sophisticated and beloved bit of trance history and dumbed it down so effectively that it would make the Vengaboys sound like the epitome of subtlety by comparison. Of course, its cartoon carnality is nowhere near as fun as the airheaded confections it reminds me of, but that barked “I want to play” chorus is infectious.
[7]

Will Adams: “I want to play,” and play she does. How else to describe a song that combines the post-verbal chorus of ATC, the brashness of Haiku Hands and the suggestive, circular hooks of Vengaboys’ “Up & Down”? I could do without the parts where she sounds like Poppy, but overall this — like our most recent visit with Sofi Tukker — manages the impressive feat of delivering fun, disposable Europop without turning it into Deep House Dish parody.
[7]

David Moore: Imagine the delight when my son pulled the trigger of the battery-operated bubble-blower we bought him on vacation and out came “Boom Boom Boom Boom,” followed by peals of manic laughter from three-quarters of our family (sorry to the remaining quarter). The Vengaboys were big and loud and shameless, so relentless in selling their big-tent Eurocheese that you could even convince a kid that they were just talking about a sleepover — which they were, technically. Betta Lemme gets at the earworms and the goofy synths but misses the sincerity — if you’re gonna do stupid shit, do it with integrity. I for one can’t imagine anyone putting this song in a beach toy.
[6]

Leah Isobel: Great pop music is always a little self-reflexive, and “Play” presents us with a perfectly circular set of referents. Betta Lemme’s recorded output to this point has been on the more chilled end of the dance-pop spectrum, even at its most bombastic, so when she asserts that she doesn’t usually come to parties, you believe her. But Danny L Harle’s banging Eurotrance synths prove impossible to ignore, replaying in her he-e-ead until she can’t help but integrate herself into the groove. The joyful scream she lets out as the last third of the song fires up gives the game away. She’s decided she wants to play, on the dancefloor and in your earbuds; you’d better let her.
[9]

Jessica Doyle: It’s a trifle, sure, but a Eurodance-infused trifle with an Icona Pop glaze. I couldn’t eat too many in a row, but one is pretty yummy.
[6]

Scott Mildenhall: Assuming that Betta Lemme wasn’t looking to inspire the Proustian rush of expectation that Lucy from Bedford is about to shout out all the Sunday night ravers in the Somerfield massive and ask for a bit of Rui Da Silva, then she’s succeeded at even more than she intended.
[7]

Reader average: [6] (4 votes)

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One Response to “Betta Lemme – Play”

  1. I’m late on this one but I feel like this is the kind of song that seems like it’s easy to write but isn’t. It’s got a good sing songy hook and it is effervescent. Is it a “I Don’t Care” level classic? No, but it’s pretty great anyway.