Alan Walker – Alone

Nope, never mind, still grumpy…

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[3.20]Iain Mew: With the change in formula for “Sing Me to Sleep” bringing down his chart longevity and Mikael Persson Mike Perry meanwhile showing the power of the original formula down to the English sounding name, it’s no surprise Alan Walker has gone back to what worked, and it has again. “Alone” is fizzy water with a slight taste of trance and differs from “Faded” pretty much only in adding a bit more uplift into the mix. That makes it a little harder to stomach, though it might just be me being a grump.
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Will Adams: It sure as hell ain’t the best Velveeta-levels-of-cheese trance song called “Alone.” It’s not even the best song that makes a somewhat disappointing mélange of early aughts trance sensibilities called “Alone.” Why bother?
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Ramzi Awn: I miss my high school friends, but I know I’m not alone.
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Katherine St Asaph: Like the climactic track of a direct-to-VHS sequel to Sister Act 2, in which the group in need of saving isn’t a gospel choir but a milquetoast children’s chorus (uncredited in the movie) and the vector of salvation isn’t R&B but EDM. The kiddies stand in a row on the auditorium stage as the director cues one choppy solo note each. The clapping is polite.
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Alfred Soto: “Closer” made respectable these twinkling pitch-altered horrors. I wonder if Noonie Bao insisted on Alan Walker’s removing her from the credits.
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Will Rivitz: I typically excuse edgy melodrama in mediocre electronic music by reminding myself that I would have loved the song as a fifteen-year-old; I’m not sure even teenaged me would have listened to this.
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Megan Harrington: When the pulse of self-preservation weakens to shallow narcissism, “Alone” plays on the stereo.
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Tim de Reuse: Hey, remember Airheads? Those cloyingly sweet taffy-ish things with the texture of an industrial byproduct? That’s this song, I think. There’s admittedly a certain appeal to the sterile, plastic pep of Walker’s production, all laminated and glossy even more than most EDM — even the vocals are processed enough to fall in the uncanny valley — but, as with Airheads, the appeal is fleeting and there just isn’t a lot of interesting flavor behind it.
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Ryo Miyauchi: One of my favorite essays from last year was Meaghan Garvey’s look back on Eurodance and the loneliness felt within that genre’s hits from the turn of the century. It’s not too hard to trace a connection between those songs and the fist-pumping sincerity of today’s EDM. And from the title on, it’s not making it too easy for me to avoid making that link between Alan Walker’s “Alone” and Alice Deejay’s “Better Off Alone.” Someone’s probably holding on to Walker’s brighter, more optimistic take on loneliness, just embracing the fidgets and the explosions as they keep his advice in mind. Whether it’s a generational split or just my head space right now, I prefer Deejay’s. While Walker outright assures no one is alone, Deejay leaves you with a question that will perhaps forever remain unsolved. I like to search for my own answer, I guess.
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Thomas Inskeep: EDM has won, and we have lost.
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