"Ariana Grande? What the hell? EO has lost it!" Well, you might think so, but my reason for deciding to post this (I thought about it fairly long and hard) was that for her latest single, Break Free, Zedd was on production duties, and it's a while since we've had anything new from him. So obviously, this is from the perspective of a Zedd fan, rather than an Ariana Grande one (to be completely honest, I'd never even heard of her before now).
Look, I tried to go into this one with an open mind, I really did. I love Zedd - until recently, I would've said he was one of the more innovative producers to hit the big time within EDM. And yes, this track'll almost certainly hit number 1, and be played at nightclubs up and down the land extensively for the next God-knows how many months. And in that sense I guess it's a success. But in every other sense, it's a totally disposable bit of pop that leaves you longing for the Zedd of old.
Don't get me wrong, I totally get that this isn't really aimed at us, his fans. But Zedd's proven in the past that he can totally please both parties when collaborating with another artist, and to me, it's all about carefully selecting who you work with to achieve that. Take his work with Lady Gaga for instance. I mean, have you heard the instrumental for Aura? It's insane! Seriously, I've put it below as a bonus. It's like a perfectly crafted Zedd track, with some added Gaga vocals (likewise for G.U.Y., another track on ARTPOP). This, is not like that. It feels totally engineered to be a commercial success, rather than an artistic one.
The most frustrating thing is that there are actually glimpses of a good track within. The opening, blaring four bars set it up to be a thumping electro track - instead, it turns into Guetta-esque pop. The classic Zedd rolling snare at the end of the chorus makes you think, "Ah, here we go, time for an almighty drop!" ...and then there isn't one, we're straight back into another verse. And then! Right at the end! Here's what we came for! The last 30 seconds do become proper Zedd material! Hallelujah! ...and then it's finished. Oh.
All this said, Ariana does deliver a great vocal performance. She's rightly being hailed as a fantastic singer [Edit: turns out I do vaguely know her, as I've seen bits of her in Nickelodeon show 'Victorious'], and it's good that she wants to branch out and experiment. And the track is by no means bad; it's just very... average.
If this is what Zedd wants to be doing now, that's fine I guess, but he can't expect us to be very happy about it. I always get angry when people accuse artists of forgetting their roots, selling out, etc... To me, the very definition of being a good artist is to continue to evolve and grow. But this feels like a wrong turn, and I sincerely hope that this is just a stopgap to some proper new material, maybe even a new album. It's a decent radio friendly pop song, but no more than that.
And as a side note: the lyric, "Now that I've become who I really are," makes me want to vomit. Everywhere.
The Octopus' Rating: 3.5/8
Release Details:
Name: Break Free (Feat. Zedd)
Artist: Ariana Grande
Label: Republic
Release Date: 2 July [OUT NOW]
Purchase: iTunes (Album preorder, US only)
Bonus: Lady Gaga - Aura (Zedd & Infected Mushroom Instrumental)
Writer, musician, and all-round top guy. I set up Excited Octopus. Currently, I'm on a one man team. It gets lonely sometimes. But I don't mind, because I love you all.
0 comments:
Post a Comment