Jackie brings the “Heat,” we adjust the temperature accordingly…
Jackie Powell: The concept of “Heat” is simple. Tove Lo exerts her power and dominance in under four minutes. While she enjoys the attention she’s getting, whoever is trying to come onto her can’t keep up and can’t have her. It’s incredibly repetitive, lyrically and musically, but I’m not bothered simply because of how Lo draws emphasis to her rhymes, repetition and assonance. The twelve word line “Want my body, but my body’s got too lush for your stuff” throws repetition, rhyme and assonance at the listener all at once. SG Lewis’ production sticks to this more minimalist theme but still sounds big, bright and polished. His rhythmic synths sound like something that would be played during a fashion show, but it isn’t cheesy. There are layers. After fifteen seconds of the repetitive synth riff that’s in the foreground to begin the track, there’s a string synthesizer that bubbles underneath and then soars right before Lo begins with her vocals. The more percussive beats are simple and meant not to overshadow the main synth melody. Across the song, especially in the single verse and the final breakdown, Lewis allows a groovy and squishy bass to get its moment in the spotlight. “Heat” and its accompanying EP that was released just a week after Charli XCX’s Brat, the bigger and much more mainstream club record, draws a contrast to Brat. It’s smoother but not boring. It’s danceable, liberating, and chill. It’s devoid of chaos.
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John S. Quinn-Puerta: Irresistibly constant. Tove Lo’s vocals are almost casual here. She knows we can’t take the heat, but that’s our problem, not hers. The rise never falls. Even as drums and bass drop out my feet still move, my lips still sing, and my heart still beats.
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Jel Bugle: I quite like the squelchy sounds and blips. Otherwise a bit uninspiring — seems overly serious for a bit of europop fun.
[5]
Leah Isobel: Grimly utilitarian, pandering schlock that I would happily bounce along with if it came on at the bar.
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Katherine St. Asaph: Proper house dynamo about dancing by Axwell idk and/or Zara Larsson!!
[4]
Ian Mathers: I continue to not hear whatever people hear in Tove Lo, and she might as well be a generic sample here. Which is fitting, because this kind of feels like the ’90s club music equivalent of yet another back-to-basics rock band. I don’t find it particularly gripping in isolation, but in its intended environment I am sure it works just fine.
[6]
Alfred Soto: She has a presence but not the content, which is not to say you wouldn’t see me bopping to this on Saturday night. House keyboards? Gimme.
[6]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Absolutely galling to talk about other people not being able to take the heat when you’re working with the most lukewarm producer alive. This would be perfectly adequate mid-DJ set filler at a party in June, but from the vantage point of December there’s not much here worth keeping.
[4]
Nortey Dowuona: Imagine being co-produced by a guy whose father does this, who made this, and who named himself this, having the temerity to be mid.
[3]
Brad Shoup: Of the two tracks the title’s operating on, I think I prefer the second: the metaphorical heat of vaporwave electro lines crossing reserved Eurodance.
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Will Adams: Efficiently finds its groove and stays there. Tove and SG have been more impactful elsewhere, both together and separate.
[6]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Basically, exactly what you’d think a Tove Lo and SG Lewis collab would sound like.
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