Perplexingly well-lit video, innit?
[Video][Website]
[6.25]
Scott Mildenhall: “I sound sad but I’m happy”, he declared in one of his previous singles, and certainly the first part of that remains true here, but that subdued delivery, characteristic of a man who looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders in a fair few of his press shots, feels in no way misleading. It’s the sound of someone who’d perhaps rather be doing something else right now instead of being famous, and it’s compelling. It might get worse soon though — Calvin Harris isn’t going to be happy about him using the riff he stole from Art Of Trance.
[7]
Will Adams: Holy hell, this is sad. The music, a cousin of the 808s and Heartbreak soundscape, would be enough to make it so. But when the hook’s central line is, “Let there be no light,” it’s devastating. Lyrically, though, here’s a bit of confusion between the light Wretch 32 does possess and the lights around him. It’s unclear which he is trying to black out, but perhaps that implies that it’s impossible to extinguish one flame without extinguishing the other.
[7]
Alfred Soto: The mournful backing vocals and gentle percussion called to mind “Nightshift” a song to which I’ve given renewed attention after Fantasia did recent wonders with a sample. Like the Commodores hit, “Blackout” says a lot more with its sound than its vocals.
[6]
Brad Shoup: That is some bonsai melisma Shakka’s cultivating. If he were female I’m sure we’d already be sick of his Dirty Projectors song. Anyway, I do well with earworms, and I’m looking forward to carrying these coos in darkness. Wretch is relegated, as we say, to pleading for more bars. But he’s great in limited release, giving each cluster of bars a slight emotional tweak.
[8]
Anthony Easton: I thought “Shakka” was actually “Shakira” for a while, and then I listened to it and was like, “Where is she?” and then I re-read the featured artist credit and realized how big a mistake it was. Is it too late to return this for Shakira?
[4]
Iain Mew: I love how cool and calm this sounds. Shakka’s impeccable detached vocals and the minimal synth drips do a great job of creating an atmosphere that matches Wretch 32’s nonchalant flow. As a result, even when he doesn’t have anything that great to say I’m still hanging on every word, at least for as long as the song stays slow.
[7]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: That is one hell of a beat, all loud/quiet drums and springy keys giving a sense of anticipation. Wretch, a good voice continuing to search for some good words, shuffles through it. He gets lost in the instrumental without planning to, and that seems fine enough — the music powers on without him, for better or better.
[5]
Jonathan Bogart: Vaguely East Asian beats, quasi-mystical lyrics, relatively flat dynamics — that something this close to New Age mood music could still be a Hot New Dance Choon suggests that maybe we all need more trip-hop in our lives.
[6]