The Singles Jukebox

Obsessive music squirrel goads Sister Nancy…

[Video][Website]
[5.14]

Stephen Eisermann: This should’ve been called “Asi es la Vida”, but here we are. I’m surprised at how much I like this song, mostly because the first verse feels very late-2000s middling pop, before getting some life in the chorus. I just wish the rest of it gave us anything else to work with. Camila really does feel and sound most comfortable speaking and singing in Spanish and it’s truly wonderful to see her thrive in the music, but the inclusion of Ed Sheeran feels odd. He’s not out of place so much as surgically placed — it’s as if the writers took a beautiful Latin beat to a hospital bed, put it under, and we got this. But, hey, while the end product certainly sounds overly polished, it’s at least good, and I hope Camila continues to follow this style.
[6]

Al Varela: There’s something really amusing about Shawn Mendes making this overdramatic, sappy breakup ballad after things between him and Camila Cabello ended, while Camila responds with a shrug and an “Asi es la vida”. But truth be told, maybe that is the best way to leave this relationship behind. I think “Bam Bam” is my favorite song she’s ever made. Full of the Latin rhythm and Ricky Reed horns that I loved on “Don’t Go Yet”, but now with this delightful atmosphere of going out to clubs and dancing the night away. Camila sounds so free and fun here, not needing to oversell her singing and just letting the music speak for itself. Getting in touch with her Hispanic roots is especially unique to her; it doesn’t feel derivative or as if she’s trying to capitalize on a movement. Rather, it feels like this is the music Camila is truly the most passionate about, and it makes the song shine all the brighter in the darkness of a breakup. Hell, I like this song so much I don’t even think it needed the Ed Sheeran verse. Not that his verse is bad, far from it! Ed is one of the only white guys who can naturally blend into other cultures’ music without diluting the song for mainstream appeal, and his energy is just as infectious as Camila. But I also think Camila could have done this on her own and it would have been just as good. This is wonderful, and I have high hopes that Familia will be her best album!
[9]

Alfred Soto: Giving it her best Ariana Grande scorched-larynx treatment, Camila Cabello tries to hold together this rather maladroitly assembled example of thrice-removed corporate Latin pop. The lyrics boast wtf moments from which Ed Sheeran does his best to keep his distance.
[5]

Ady Thapliyal: “You said you hated the ocean but you’re surfing now,” I say to Steve Harvey as we’re taping Family Feud, and the number one slot on the “Worst Opening Line You’ve Ever Heard” board dings in response — 30 points! 
[3]

Andrew Karpan: The story of Camila Cabello continues, revealing itself as a series of musical numbers playing out in the grand stage of minor pop hits. First there was “Don’t Go Yet” — roaring, fun, anthemic. While not succeeding as a party jam, it succeeded at being something else: a song about the fun of a party jam; the upholstery of a good time without a subject inside the frame. Fittingly, the song about getting over her break up with her “Señorita” co-singer also fits this genre of musical theater postmodernism, with Ed Sheeran’s ability to stand in for Shawn Mendes working as a joke that safely won’t go over anyone’s head.
[6]

Ian Mathers: 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting is the website of a guy who reviews movies, mostly horror ones. It doesn’t update super often these days, so the one thing that keeps in it my mind is the guy’s “way-too-fucking-complicated” rating system (explicated here). It’s not actually that complicated; basically he wants to capture enjoyably good and enjoyably bad art, so his ratings go from five stars to negative five stars. The worst thing in this system isn’t negative five stars, it’s plus or minus half a star, which I think captures the way a particular kind of mediocrity can either seem or be (is there a difference?) the worst thing to encounter. “Bam Bam” is not, in fact, an example of “everything wrong about pop music today” (if such a shifting target actually exists); if it were, I would almost certainly enjoy it more.
[2]

Anna Katrina Lockwood: This song has so many abrupt tonal shifts that at no point during the run time did I feel totally comfortable that I knew what was coming next, which is such a refreshing experience while listening to an Ed Sheeran-involved song that I feel obligated to give a very generous score of [5].
[5]