Second song in a row whose video takes place in a theater and whose title is worthy of a “not a cover” joke…
[Video]
[7.00]
Nortey Dowuona: When I heard this song going down a Twitter wormhole, I was struck. It was a fuzzy, hazy, loping masterpiece, showered in flickering, fiery singing and a gentle, patient rap verse. It’s everything I like about about pop music, especially the simple structure, the traditionalist compositions and the safe, snug feeling it evokes in me. It’s not really tied to any political movement, it’s not part of a critical movement, it’s got no agenda and no noxious characters added. It’s just a smooth, warm song made by two wonderful black producers about love and being there for them and not creeping. The kind of music I wish would get more press coverage, for financial backing and more attention. In this next decade, let’s look more for the FootsXColes of the world, cop their projects and go to their shows, especially when they’re making music as beautiful as this. And I’m gonna go do that right now.“I see it in your eyes, feelings can erupt.” – Foots (maybe.)
[10]
Iain Mew: The bassline does the best job of creeping, while they draw out a cool sustained mood through jazzy meandering. The vocals seem an unnecessary afterthought much of the time, but don’t disrupt too much.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Summoning the Sunday afternoon chillin’ vibe of the first Digable Planets, this duo uses trumpet to accent a demotic evocation of a girl who exists as word more than flesh — ah, the dreams of young men.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: The parts of “Creep” I like best are when the vocals are distorted into something not melodic, not harsh, but slightly sickly, slightly psychedelic, perhaps psychotic. Without that weirdly arresting trick, the track would have been a bit too cruisy. As it is I’m slightly concerned that really enjoying this this means I am going to put it on repeat while drinking gin, nodding my head and resting my thumb and forefinger on my goatee, but I don’t have a goatee, so it’s fine.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: Backpacker hip-hop isn’t dead, apparently.
[4]
Tim de Reuse: At first, my thought was “Thundercat performed at half speed.” But there’s a rhythmic looseness here that’s special, and a vast amount of sonic detail that blurs the line between the foreground and the background; consider the guitar plucking away in the periphery that floats in and out of attention, and the feathery harmonies that often sound like they’re about to burst in to a fit of giggling. The effect is ticklish and magical.
[9]