So our editor went to Denmark last week..
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[5.29]
Iain Mew: I like to think that the reason this song starts off with a poor Auto-Tuned rip-off of “Disturbia” is just so that the expansive and inventive pop journey that comes up afterwards has the element of surprise on its side. Though I suppose its nonsense “jeejeejojolalaromaromama” hook is there at the start too to give you a clue so, um, who knows. I’m too busy enjoying Aura’s Shakira-like inflections, “I paint my face with tear drop drops” and the way the drums skip up behind the big “do it all for love” statement to think about it too much.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: Tempting and obvious to say she’s a Faroe Islands Shakira but damned if I can’t also hear Lena Mayer-Landrut in there too. In other words, she’s a mess of vocal tics, awkward lyrics and cutesy immaturity, and is either going to delight you or get on your nerves. Fortunately, the song itself is catchy enough to give delight a respectable chance; it doesn’t so much build into a chorus as sweep you into it. If you close off that part of your brain that interprets words and stuff, your pleasure centres will thank you.
[8]
Alfred Soto: An odd one: Shakira making like Rihanna. All this and an acoustic guitar riff too. The verses faff around a bit, but the nonsense chorus is indelible: the artist earns the right to call herself “Aura Dione.”
[6]
Brad Shoup: Does the first Gaga album count as retro? I’m a little nervous about those drums in conjunction with that title, but as a whole, the song’s pleasant near-nonsense, spinning out stirring melodies and a modicum of AM mystery.
[6]
Katherine St Asaph: “Geronimo,” to lazily Americanize, is what would happen if Lady Gaga remained cocooned inside her “Just Dance” vocal processing after Adele cast her ballads into the heart of the charts: slow, slick vocals and canned guitars in a taste-test to see whose syrup cloys more. Dione does add percussion later, but it’s less clatter than Tedder. And all that’s before you even consider the conceit, asking listeners to believe that clubgoers would ever — ever — use “geronimo” as a close-the-pickup line.
[3]
Ian Mathers: The production and vocals seems a bit ersatz, I’m a little bit skittish around the use of “Geronimo” and the other lyrics don’t impress, and the whole thing never quite goes as nuts as it seems like it could or should. But I really like the bit in the chorus where she starts burping up syllables. Not quite enough to redeem the whole song, but it’s a start.
[5]
Anthony Easton: There is a Cherokee journalist and academic named Adrienne K who writes a blog called Native Appropriations. She spends a lot of time pointing out how hipsters who are worried about blackface or other casual racism(s) don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how the constant absorption and remixing of images from Aboriginal cultures could be equally problematic. She would have a field day with the privileges assumed by this text.
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