And doooooon’t tell me what to do, and… wait, wrong song…
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[5.44]
Crystal Leww: Remember the quick second that we thought that Jax Jones was the voice on “I Got U”? Thank goodness Jax Jones shares none of his pal Duke’s unwillingness to credit vocalists; RAYE is great on this, and this is a real tune. It’s a shame it dropped in winter though — would love to hear this while dancing on a beach somewhere.
[6]
Iain Mew: RAYE doesn’t quite own this like Kah-lo on the similar “Rinse and Repeat,” but it’s still enough to further her case for Dua Lipa-sized expectations.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: Cribbing its rubbery bassline from a 2005 classic-to-some by M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade, “You Don’t Know Me” unfortunately forgets to surround it with much else of any interest, instead building a generic house track with equally generic vocals around it.
[2]
Will Adams: I’m all for the “Body Language” bassline becoming a staple in pop, but at least will.i.am did something interesting with it. Jax Jones programs some drums and calls it a day, leaving the classic riff to do all the lifting (which admittedly keeps the song decent). Meanwhile, RAYE is only barely able to elevate the drab songwriting.
[6]
Scott Mildenhall: This feels very meme-minded, to the point that it seems RAYE is doing an impression of an American formulated solely through GIFs. When she does the whole spoken sassy diss thing, it comes across so strongly as an affectation that it’s interesting that they haven’t got an actual American to do it. Perhaps such a posture is so strongly absorbed now that most people won’t see it like that, but outside of that perspective it sounds like “Jack” without the archness; minimalistic and fidgety in a way that’s curious for a chart hit — meme-minded, but not comprehensively pop-minded.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Spare like I want it to be, fluent in the dis and the WTF aside (“we could throw shapes together/but it doesn’t mean you’re in my circle, yeah”), no longer than necessary, “You Don’t Know Me” was a pleasure to meet its acquaintance.
[7]
Micha Cavaseno: Tragically, the tech-house pulse of the UK was already starting to get exhausted by this time last year, but at least then we were in the big-Top-40 mode of pushing the sound. Here, RAYE is doing her best to try and push the song to elevated levels, but she’s working with such a flat beat that frankly it’s a wasted effort.
[4]
Claire Biddles: I’m a sucker for dance music that acts as a narrative of a night out: the chronicling of a club set to the sound of the club. It’s definitely corny to compare “You Don’t Know Me” to a sequence from a musical but it describes its surroundings in the same way; a kind of immediate existential storytelling. It reminds me of one of my favourite examples of this sort-of lyrical subgenre, “Katy on a Mission” by Katy B, but with the added (super relatable) twist of calling out a dude who is taking up your space on the floor. I found myself shouting out in agreement after every line.
[8]
Will Rivitz: Someday, I hope we’ll move on from 2013. Apparently, today isn’t that day.
[4]