In case you didn’t know, this is Latin Grammy Best New Artist week! And Alfred beats me to the punch again…
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[5.36]
Alfred Soto: The winner of “La Voz Colombia” goes to town with this rock disco number with more than a couple of undistinguished nods towards Alicia Bridges’ “I Love the Nightlife.”
[6]
Josh Langhoff: Miranda’s voice — unique, reedy, and deadset on crossover domination — battles its way through the umpteenth iteration of Chic-y guitar and strings. Her ahs snarl like Taylor Dayne, and that’s a point right there.
[6]
Rebecca A. Gowns: I love positivity — even in its most cliche forms, like sunshine, rainbows and valentines — but this positivity is just too much, like a battering ram. It doesn’t help that its mode of delivery is Miranda’s voice, which somehow manages to sound both pinched and, for lack of a better word, “braying.” Like Ethel Merman without her panache.
[2]
Juana Giaimo: Her extravagant voice has its charm, but she isn’t using it well. The vocal melody of the chorus is rather dull and the backing vocals don’t help her a lot either. Hopefully, in a couple of years she can show her potential, but right now, this is a song I’d rather skip.
[4]
Iain Mew: A lifetime of UK pop has given me a certain affection towards disco stomps as clumsily overbearing as Miranda’s, but even that gets worn down by the end. She sounds lost and desperate for someone or something to show her the way back — and rescue the song.
[4]
Anthony Easton: This sounds like the kind of thing that would play on the third slot of a second-tier variety show in the mid-70s, but with a bit of mid-90s Mariah/Celine oversinging. I don’t know if that is a good thing yet.
[6]
Megan Harrington: This is by the books disco-pop but the generic palette works in Miranda’s favor. The default backdrop makes her voice sound even more majestic than it might if she updated the production. She’s an accent wall in a neutral room.
[7]
Brad Shoup: The disco touches here are more of an emotional push: string clouds masquerading as string hits, backing vocals as footnotes. They make the title true: love as a slightly worrying revelation.
[7]
Patrick St. Michel: Its structure might as well come out of a box labelled “disco-pop starter kit,” but dear goodness does this song make the most of it. The chorus just bursts open, and Miranda follows suit to deliver a strong vocal hook accented by electronic squiggles that make this all the more sunny. This refuses to settle into a groove, and squeezes out as much brightness as it can.
[8]
David Lee: One of the reasons Kylie excelled at the sunshine disco bit was that her wispy voice rode atop of the squiggly basslines and candescent string sections, highlighting the airiness in productions that could turn goopy in heavier hands. Not so here. Miranda’s belting sinks this like wrench dropped into an orange jello mold. It’s an unfortunate mismatch that doesn’t quite deliver on the sentiment it’s trying to sell.
[6]
W.B. Swygart: TURNS OUT PALOMA FAITH’S VOICE ISN’T ANY MORE BEARABLE IN SPANISH, THEN
[3]