Waking up to enthuse…
[Video]
[8.75]
David Allun Jones: Now that Popstar’s critical acclaim and breakout commercial success has seemingly granted Tinashe freedom from the Khia Asylum that largely kept her in the cult favorite shadows the past decade-plus, I only have two wishes: 1) We get a choreo-dominant music video for every track from the killer album, and 2) Tinashe promises to never ever abandon her heretofore commitment to building a discography full of quietly classic R&B/pop/dance bops and whatever-Nashe-wants experimentation like this outré, two-songs-in-one drag show delirium. The larger public has been so unfairly melatonin to Tinashe for far too long, hopefully it has fully wiped the sleep from its eyes for good.
[9]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Over the past decade and a half she’s been a relentless pop technician, a consummate professional who elevated even the most dire attempts at hits. Here, at her apex, she instead plays the mad scientist, ramming together so many hooks that it’s impossible to keep track of where one ends and the next begins. “Melatonin” is an overwhelming force of a song, delivered with a rare finesse; a singer with less poise would overplay the diva quality here, but instead Tinashe finds a middle path through the song’s relentless drive. It knocked me off my feet the first time I heard it; it continues to do so every time I hear it.
[10]
Lichelle: Thank you, Tinashe, for freeing the masses from the doldrums of Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy pop. Sonically, she is ahead of the pack again. Give it a year and everyone will sound like this, with a few insisting they got there first.
[10]
Al Varela: This was not at all what I was expecting when I first heard it but I got into its groove instantly. “Melatonin” burbles with bass taps and handclaps, as a pitched-down Tinashe slips into her inner club diva and persuades you to the dancefloor. There’s so much going on in this song that it’s hard to keep track, but the groove is so electric and infectious that you let yourself get lost in the vibes anyway. It’s substantially less structured than what Tinashe usually does but she excels with flying colors.
[9]
Ashton Arbus: Basically just four minutes of riffing on a basic loop featuring the coolest noises you’ve ever heard. As good as dance music can get.
[10]
Scott Mildenhall: All of the good noises in one place. A symphony of squelches, buzzes and clicks, topped off by bits of words and quick syllables. It’s laudably cohesive eccentricity.
[8]
James M Errington: I could try to break down all the influences here, the snappy 80s hip hop, the squelchy acid house 808 sounds, the glitchy 2000s IDM, and the vocals! But the only thing that really matters is how fantastic they all sound together. What a great record.
[9]
Jel Bugle: It’s an exciting song, with blips and noises, and a bit of tune, that you can remember! A revelation!
[8]
Tim de Reuse: As close as acid house gets to a lullaby.
[3]
Julian Axelrod: Not since “Partition” has an already stellar track been so thoroughly elevated by its mid-song switch-up. The five-second stretch where Tinashe shifts from pitch-fucked androgynous party demon to hyperpop speed-rap hyperdrive is one of my favorite moments in any song this year. It’s the sound of a generational artist shedding the last vestiges of conventional pop structure as she rockets into the outer reaches of superstardom.
[9]
Nortey Dowuona: Zach Sekoff and black people: undefeated combo. Ricky Reed and black people… jury’s still out. Nightfeelings and black people… I don’t think so.
[10]
Alfred Soto: No guy has accused me of being too melatonin. No guy ever worked with a series of beats and stutters as insistent and sticky.
[9]
Joshua Lu: After nearly a decade and a half in the business, Tinashe has more than earned the right to release an “I’m fucking amazing and I’m better than you” track. “Melatonin” manages to be a relentless club banger that’s light on its feet, feeling like a glimpse into an endless party that you don’t deserve to enter.
[9]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I’ll need to revise this to a [10] once I’ve finally learned all the words.
[9]
Callie Petch: OK, I WILL LISTEN TO POPSTAR ALREADY! Frankly shocked this wasn’t all over the HOMOBLOC decks last month, it’s a queer rave ass-eating anthem if I’ve ever heard one.
[8]
Charlotte Gaze: Rest in piss, Azealia Banks!
[10]