We’re not even sure about “like,” tbh…
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[5.12]
Alfred Soto: As bubbly as fresh cold prosecco, “Not in Love” benefits from M.O.’s sass. They’re not in love, but they sure act like it. The chintzy presets add to the spritz.
[7]
Micha Cavaseno: Reggae tinges à la tropical house or Sia-core tinged with Meghan Trainor-style Lesley Goreisms — the bit about mocking a boy for playing video games is a veer into cheese, and the melodies on the chorus are much more Brill Building than Studio One. The production’s great here, especially on those low bass squelches for the hook, but Kent Jones feels more or less like a “might as well” than a welcome addition.
[7]
Scott Mildenhall: In this day and age M.O getting this far is a real achievement, but as it stands they’re unlikely to ever get beyond an uphill struggle. For a band in their position, something big and attention-grabbing could (and is maybe needed to) fully establish them. This song, while perfectly pleasant, is not that. Even the choice of guest suggests limitations — if Kent Jones is your Big American Feature, you haven’t got a Big American Feature — and without an indisputable hit, they’re unlikely to be exceeded. “Perfectly pleasant” doesn’t cut it unless people actually know who you are.
[6]
Katie Gill: This is a fun, infectious song that could have been so much better had they swapped out the lazy instrumentation for something else. M.O is trying their hardest to sell this: you can even detect fun in those vocals at certain points. But that instrumentation is dull. This deserves to be bright, more akin to the power behind something like Get Weird-era Little Mix, not an overplayed beach setting on a Casio keyboard.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: Almost seems like it could fit into that glorious and endlessly useful lineage, from 10cc to Jennifer Paige to Megara, of songs whose vocalists endlessly proclaim how much they don’t love the person they are clearly in love with. Except M.O seem to instead have in mind dub Fifth Harmony: too smirking to be joyful, too recycled-Anti to be cutting.
[4]
Ramzi Awn: The “thanks for nothing” siren song is getting tired. Denouncing love is a delicate affair, and there’s a thin line between mocking and truly walking away. Don’t be sorry, and don’t be predictable either.
[3]
Jessica Doyle: I play Stardew Valley for the story and Candy Crush Soda Saga when I want to zone out and Final Fantasy XV until I have trouble completing a minor quest and wonder if it’s me or there’s another update forthcoming, and Tomb Raider: Legend when I want Hot Explorer Wisecracking with Her Boy Toys, and the 193-UN-members-in-10-minutes quiz when my husband plays Perfect Dark: Zero to relax or Resident Evil 4 for the deliciously terrible dialogue or Half-Life 2 because it’s his GOAT. All this is to explain why, whatever charms this song is supposed to have behind the processing and the bland chorus and the HP (or is it Lenovo?) product placement, I don’t notice because I’m too busy thinking FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, NAME ONE SPECIFIC VIDEO GAME.
[2]
Will Adams: All roads in 2017 pop lead to sluggish half-time, but “Not in Love” keeps it uptempo and is all the better for it. It brightens the song and emphasizes that, like M.O’s claims to the contrary, things aren’t always so serious.
[7]