n.b. The Singles Jukebox scale does not track with the Richter scale…
[Video]
[6.25]
Katherine St Asaph: The exact mix of pretty, spacey, and sunsick that makes for a surprising summer jam. I say “surprising” because just imagine taking this song back nine years or so into the thick of Tyler the Creator Discourse and watching people boggle at the odd future.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Fuck odd future — what a weird present. This amalgam of Dre-meets-Parliament tea kettle wheezes, winsome Plaiboi, testifyin’ Charlie Wilson, and please-don’t-gos isn’t Tyler’s thing, but as a demonstration of his increasingly sophisticated production skillz, “Earfquake” makes good on pleasing the first three letters of its title.
[6]
Ashley Bardhan: The layered vocals pleading “don’t leave, it’s my fault/don’t leave, it’s my fault” make me sad every time I hear them. I like the playfulness of Playboi Carti’s adlibs in the midst of this swirling wobbly, jazzy prayer. Most of the vocals here sound either pitched up or down, but at the end, Tyler comes in at normal pitch. His wobbly voice rises over drum pads and Charlie Wilson, saying “I don’t want no confrontation/you don’t want my conversation.” I want to say something about how Tyler’s only conversation is between his voice and the rest of the music, but I can’t tell if that’s too on the nose.
[8]
Julian Axelrod: There have been headlines about Tyler pitching this song to Rihanna and Bieber, but, as with most of Tyler’s solo work, it only sounds like Tyler. This is Tyler turned to 11, Tyler to the nth degree, Tyler at his most Tyler. The skewed singing, the performative piano, the subtle subversion of the video: that’s all Tyler. So it’s weird that Tyler kinda fades to the background here. The only rapping comes from a characteristically geek’d-up Playboy Carti. The only memorable turn of phrase comes from the titular disaster metaphor. The only truly unexpected performance comes from Tracey Ellis Ross. All the pieces are in place for a classic Tyler song. The only thing getting in the way is Tyler.
[6]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Tyler, the Creator has always positioned himself as the heir to Pharrell and Kanye — not always successfully, but with an intent that has persisted despite his artistic development. On “Earfquake,” though, he instead is mostly working in the vein of classic-period Stevie Wonder, doing everything with such precision and tossed-off glory that he even manages to steal the show when he’s not singing (Carti’s verse is great, but Tyler’s piano is even greater.) He’s almost too comfortable in his performance — for the first time in his career, maybe, he’s reached a point of stasis. Fortunately, his comfort lends “Earfquake” the feeling of contentment that a bright day in late spring has.
[8]
Nortey Dowuona: A zipping, rubbery bassline melts under warm, waterlogged synth pads and low, heavy bass drums as Tyler desperately begs for forgiveness and Carti… exists, I guess?
[8]
Tim de Reuse: Starved for content, leaning all its weight on a hook that’s merely competent and a guest verse that’s comically incomprehensible. The anemic, Cherry Bomb-ish production, which layers Tyler’s voice behind stringy, tense electronic effects, pretty much obliterates the few elements that might have been worth paying attention to.
[3]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: Tyler’s admitted on multiple occasions that he isn’t a great singer, so it’s been clear that this insecurity is at least partially why he continues to process his voice so much. It adds to the sadness of “Earfquake” and its confession of embarrassment and wrongdoing, the hazy beat well-suited for hot summer days spent regretting your mistakes. Tyler’s relatively clean vocals make this more admirable, but Playboi Carti’s feature sort of just points to how it’s all pretty tedious.
[4]