This night is over, yes yes oyez…
[Video][Myspace]
[5.33]
Ian Mathers: In which a Brit rapper channels a bit of Before Sunrise, and between the yelping chorus vocals, the ringing piano line and a little bit of regret, actually pulls it off. Even the song’s conflicted, veering between puppyish enthusiasm and a more sober realization that whatever it is, it’s over – and it probably couldn’t have gone any other way.
[8]
Martin Skidmore: Swirling synths and piano, some very poppy parts, plus some second-rate post-Streets rapping. It reminds me more than anyone of the much-missed, if only by me, MC Buzz B, but the pop singing is painfully inadequate. I like whoever put the music together, but the rest is not good enough.
[4]
Jonathan Bradley: If this instrumental had been made ten years ago, it would have been released sans-rap on the back end of a Chemical Brothers album and would have been a perfectly agreeable piece of post-rave summer psychedelia. But in the interim Mike Skinner had to come along and convince twats like this they had some kind of business rapping. I don’t care if he’s discovered the aa/bb/cc/etc. rhyme scheme, Example isn’t a rapper. Malcolm McLaren had better presence and Morris Minor and the Majors had more interesting lyrics. A good half decade of grime has proven that Slick Rick was no fluke and the British accent is perfectly acceptable for emceeing, but this guy probably wouldn’t make the list of top thirty rappers in So Solid Crew.
[3]
John Seroff: I imagine this is what Cudi had in mind: a blend of genres telling a common story that anyone could relate to. Here it’s the ol’ “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy writes twee single” routine. In all fairness, “Watch the Sun Come Up” does avoid the obvious pitfalls of wallowing in the shiny and happy or sulking in shoegaze, but it also lacks genuine intimacy or any recognizably unpolished emotion. The A-Ha homage video doesn’t hurt, but it’s ultimately not much more than a beachside box-lunch; okay for the moment, even if you won’t remember what you had come tomorrow.
[6]
Martin Kavka: “When I tried to speak your language I’m happy you laughed (ha!) ’cause I’m hardly a linguist. Spoke through kisses ’cause you didn’t speak English, and it was hard to distinguish: love at first sight or holiday romance?” Both of these options seem too generous. I vote for “no English skills means this is genuinely no-strings-attached sex — hot damn!” I do like the chorus, though, which is perhaps the airiest thing to hit the UK Top 20 since “Deepest Blue.”
[5]
Dan MacRae: “Really want to look into your Catwoman eyes.” So she had eyes like a cat? Eyes like Julie Newmar? Is she wearing Lisa Loeb glasses at the time? I’m sure my heart is supposed to ache for Example’s lost love, but I can’t get past that Catwoman bit. It’s nerd-baiting, that’s what it is. Nerd-baiting wrapped up in serviceable danceschmaltz.
[6]