The Singles Jukebox

The Danish singer slowly claws her way back up the scoreboard…

[Video]
[5.29]

Oliver Maier: *drum intro*
Alright dig it,
Cold coolin’ on the Jukebox, and I’m lookin for distractions,
But like Mick Jagger said, I can’t get no satisfaction,
I’m listening to these songs, but none of them clicking with me,
These hooks are weak and I’m feeling bleak, giving scores like [5] and [3].
But this one beat here is knockin’ with a drop that’s pretty sweet,
It’s a tasteful dancepop number, though it feels incomplete,
So I perked up and scrolled over to discover more about this singer,
I checked the list, “What banger’s this?” it was “Holding On, Medina”.
[7]

Iain Mew: Medina has been doing the same things well for the decade since she first scored high on the Jukebox. “Holding On” twists to fit into the requirements of 2019 and Spinnin’ Records, but in the moments of shiniest synths and most choked-up vocal intensity the appeal survives. 
[6]

Alfred Soto: As dull as Kelly Clarkson-goes-dance-pop a decade ago.
[4]

Vikram Joseph: This is badly hamstrung by soporific production on the verses and some heavy-handed lyrics, even allowing for the fact that English most likely isn’t her first language — “You keep letting strangers in your bed / Killing every part of us that’s left” is sixth-form psychodrama, at best. In fairness, “Holding On”‘s one good line is very good: “I’m scared of everything I’ve ever felt” bluntly captures the weightless horror of your emotional centre of gravity being ripped away by a breakup. And the chorus is much better, trance-influenced synths flickering like distress signals in the sky. But the momentum is hard to claw back.
[5]

Will Adams: Medina gets away with a lot lyrically by the strength of her voice; she emotes so fiercely that the triteness of “are we strangers now too?” doesn’t register. Helping her cause is the arrangement, which could have gone giant and obvious, but instead opts for the kind of skittery, nervous energy that comes with fretting about the state of your relationships.
[7]

Kayla Beardslee: The bouncy drop and Medina’s strong-enough voice sound capable, somehow, of finding a unique approach to the well-worn genre of lightly electronic music, but this potential is never fully realized. Part of the problem is how flat Medina sounds in the chorus (some of her ad-libs are pushed way too far back in the mix), and part of it is how ruthlessly the drop drains away any semblance of her personality.
[5]

Katherine St Asaph: Bangs about as much as a loose wad of tissue paper.
[3]