Fire AND gold? Wow, we are spoiled!
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[5.00]
Katherine St Asaph: The guitar intro suggests this has been sitting around the studio for a while (even the release date was over a year ago). The rest can’t decide whether it wants to be Ellie Goulding or Neon Trees.
[4]
Iain Mew: I was on the verge of saying that this all sounds like Ellie Goulding, but then I listened closer and for the most part it doesn’t. Bea Miller’s voice and songwriting are generally quite distinct. It’s just that all of the other ideas are subservient to the chorus, and that is so much like “Burn,” which I was over so long ago, that it retroactively infects the rest of the song.
[4]
Crystal Leww: I’ve been really impressed with this wave of alt teens, from the cool-kid shunning Echosmith to the pop-punking Against the Current to the anthemic-uplifting Bea Miller. The themes here aren’t new, and lyrically, this is kind of clunky (“like an astronaut scared of heights” is not exactly the best line committed to record this year), and the drop swerves and swoops like a formula, but the music is pretty good after all, and Bea Miller really commits to the schtick. As soon as that chorus’s belted out “fire and gold in your eyes” hits, I believe it, and I believe in her, too. This is teen pop for kids done well.
[6]
Brad Shoup: Little hi-hat explosions in the verses, pneumatic snare hits in the refrain. Still, I eventually heard that first line over all that nonsense.
[4]
Will Adams: I just really like when songs become their own dubstep remix.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: See, this is how you work EDM traits into a booming radio-ready pop song. Miller’s voice is a bit thin — imagine this sung by the Pat Benatar of “Invincible” — but this has a fine big sound to it.
[6]
Alfred Soto: This X Factor contestant is committed to this track’s swoops and dips, despite the track’s predictable swoops and dips failing to commit to her.
[4]