We’ve not reviewed them in 7 years, 4 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes, 5 seconds…
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[7.20]
Megan Harrington: The warm snap, crackle, pop production is the sort of disco-funk déjà vu we’ve been tripping on for the past year, but the way the chorus seizes out on “baby” is an anachronistic post-internet glitch. Sometimes I’m gripped with paranoia over the idea that technical engineering is trying to perfect all audio defect — noiseless washers, Auto-Tune, high quality mp3s — and I fear for a future world where no sound is created through accident or failure. “Bye Baby” is a tiny redemption; here is a pre-fab pop group combining vinyl production with that format’s most familiar failure. It’s so simple, so macro. I suspect that Danity Kane, Diddy’s Danity Kane, they of the Aubrey O’Day, will not see the respect awarded to this genre’s banner acts (Daft Punk, for instance) but if this were by Beyoncé it would be called “Blow” and the world would wet itself trying to end the year in January with the crown crooked on her head. This song is ingenious, it trumps any milquetoast homage.
[9]
Edward Okulicz: Yeah, that polite vinyl-nostalgia funk was everywhere in 2013, but “Bye Baby” actually has a second idea to go along with it. “Bye Baby” is stuffed full, but still frisky enough to move. The joyous release of Aubrey O’Day’s pre-chorus — “I don’t have to settle for you, don’t cry baby!” — is magnificent, and almost cries out for some gigantic horns to underscore the point, but it doesn’t need it. That bit is sumptuous enough already, worthy of Beyoncé (or, close your eyes and dream, Sistar), and contrasts perfectly with the off-hand, almost spoken “baby don’t cry, cry baby” from Dawn Richard.
[8]
Alex Ostroff: My pining for Welcome to the Dollhouse‘s crystalline five-part harmonies has lessened since Little Mix snagged my ears with “Move“, so my reaction to Danity Kane’s reunion was initially more “Why?” than “Finally.” After hearing “Bye Baby,” I’m on board: it’s light on its feet, the harmonies spiral and swoop as effectively as ever, and the pre-chorus crescendo fake-out into that pared-back minimal strut is magic. I’m still uncertain if its worth a Dawn Richard solo career hiatus, but if we must bide time until Blackheart, there are far worse possibilities.
[8]
Scott Mildenhall: If “Move” was a bit more “funky”, and wasn’t such a joyous condensation of the politics of dancing into pure, frenetic kinetics, it might sound a bit like this. Thankfully, it doesn’t. “Bye Baby” is enjoyable enough, but all it’s really doing is creating a craving for one of Danity Kane’s distant relations.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: The Danity Kane comeback is worth it completely just for this chorus, an all-eyes-on-me kiss off that rises above all the pleasant early-evening sounds around it.
[7]
Alfred Soto: The production has enough mothballs in its pockets to cast doubt on this necessary reunion. The voices crackle with enough frisson to compensate but only just. Two years after proving herself an artist who rewards attention, Dawn Richard has little input. I await her next record.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: Look: Goldenheart was transcendent, but I’m pretty sure there are more CDs on my shelf than copies it sold. Oh well; Danity Kane seem to be doing better than the last Diddy girl group that reunited, probably because nu-disco is an easier sell in 2014 than Auto-Tuned Andrews Sisters in any year. There are a little more Nile-like licks than when this was called “Hush Hush,” but the formula remains mostly unchanged — and mostly sound.
[7]
Madeleine Lee: I admit to being not very invested in Danity Kane’s reunion narrative — they appeared a few years after I’d aged out of girl groups, and disappeared a few years before I aged back into them again — but it’s nice to hear them adapt well to the current Climate of Smooth, gliding over the choruses, pushing on the verses, and generally sounding like a group that can last at least another album.
[7]
Brad Shoup: They swapped the accepted intensity levels; the pre-chorus is winding to a rave-up, not a cruise-control nu-disco groove. I’m willing to chalk it up to perversity instead of rust. DK aside, it’s pleasingly plastic, with audible seams and a weird glitch that triggers J. Lo dialogue.
[7]
Anthony Easton: In a little eddy pond where forgotten R&B bands go to die, Danity Kane makes a beautifully constructed opus to ignoring the damage you might be doing.
[8]