Earnestly ripping off “All Star” — yep, what a concept!
[Video]
[3.86]
Katherine St Asaph: I can’t believe it took this many years of memes for someone to finally earnestly rip off “All Star.” Unless it’s ripping off “Semi-Charmed Life.” What “Say So” lacks in subtlety, uncynical conception and an actual hook — you know, like the ones that made those songs remembered and, yes, beloved — it makes up for in cheer and goofy vibes. And I could use a little cheer myself, and we could all use some goofy vibes.
[7]
Katie Gill: Oh this is the most boring Maroon 5 shit imaginable. It’s got the same problem as “Astronaut in the Ocean” (as well as literally every other song developed for TikTok) of there only being 30 solid seconds of chorus repeated ad infinitum, sandwiching dull verses. But this one took away any fun or anything interesting that “Astronaut” had and instead replaced it with something just so aggressively middle of the road. All you need is a guest verse by a female rapper who’s much too good for this shit and Adam Levine will be breaking down Masked Wolf’s door.
[2]
Nortey Dowuona: The strange thing about the guitar lick that builds “Say So” is that it’s just that… a lick. It’s not a progression, it just hovers around the same strumming and notes, while Masked Wolf does the same thing, hovering around the same notes; his flow rigid but too flat to even create pleasure from the construction of his verses. And his hook just goes up and down, the things he talks about are so basic and surface level, and it even ends at the right time to be streamed. It’s all very strange.
[2]
Tim de Reuse: Not the worst mental health anthem I’ve heard over the course of the pandemic, but perhaps the least ambitious. When you’re “not okay,” Masked Wolf recommends you just, y’know, relax about it. As a message for a feel-good summer tune it’s fine, I guess, but the arrangement here is upbeat in such a claustrophobic way; his vocals never stop for more than a beat, it never rests on a single section for more than a few measures, everything’s produced crisp and in-your-face — too much, compressed into too short a runtime. It calls to mind the archetype of the so-cheery-you-hate-them coworker more than it does an arm around your shoulder.
[4]
Edward Okulicz: Absolutely nothing old is new again, but “Say So” comes pre-packaged to give some pure turn-of-the-millennium thrills, sounding like any one of 99 crossover hits that could have come out in 1999. Falls a little into the uncanny valley for me as far as being a throwback jam, as Masked Wolf seems a bit too self-aware that he’s doing something that sounds like it will end up in a kids’ movie five years from now. There are worse fates, for this is too easily chopped into short, catchy bits to have any other uses.
[5]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: With little to really say, “Say So” squirms and skizzes with a mediocrity that can only be described as unambitious.
[2]
Ian Mathers: He doesn’t wear a mask even once in the video.
[5]