Welcome To The Singles Jukebox: 5 0 posts since our last mention of Drake!
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Katherine St Asaph: Out-Drakes Drake, in that Hassle doesn’t even wait until the kiss is dry to make his emo drunk dial to someone else; he doesn’t actually sing “I’ve had sex four times this week, including like 30 minutes ago, but they’re not youuuuuuuuuu,” but he comes damn close. The bullshit escalates fast, and obviously whether you’re in this sort of mood determines whether this is indulgent or more like discovering your drunk dial two weeks later. Either way, Hassle needs to pare down the production. Synth pads: fine, if overblown; percussion, fine; squawky synth, underused; Swedish reggae, no.
[7]
Anthony Easton: I am a sucker for this brokenhearted, socially fucked-up, gorgeously produced R&B — the emotional desolation is folded into choices that are aesthetically pristine. John Legend does it well but the coldness of this just breaks things down even further.
[9]
Alfred Soto: “That night ain’t comin’ no more/That’s the way it is,” Hassle croons, voice dissolving into autotune-powered stratospherics. There’s a string section. Heaps of echo. Now that Jody Rosen published his essay it’s easier to taxonomize shit like this: schlock that doesn’t transcend itself. I mean, imagine “Ready for You” sung over acoustic guitars and you have the mid seventies in all their horror.
[4]
Josh Langhoff: Erik tries desperately to summon his hairdresser.
[3]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: Imagine “Marvin’s Room” if the dialtone never gave out, turning all that bruised bravado into drunken self-pity. Hassle sounds like he’s melting into his own slumped shoulders with this sad-emoji pop, but that glumness doesn’t go anywhere over four minutes of muffled thumps. It’s difficult to demand aesthetic joy from a song from a floozy’s perspective, but soused despair should at least nudge towards danger.
[5]
Thomas Inskeep: So he’s the Swedish Sam Smith, then? White boy, faux-soulful, crit-approved? *yawn*
[4]
Will Adams: Somewhere between Drake and Active Child, “Ready For You” hits the maudlin mark perfectly.
[7]
Brad Shoup: Definitely appreciate his commitment to sonic evocation, but singles — especially R&B-adjacent singles — don’t generally usually sound like they’re creeping up a well. The skittery drumtrack and general alienation bring recent Radiohead to mind. When he chases the title with a shiver, though, I hear Roger Troutman.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: When Hassle sings “I was with you/ready for you” with that otherworldly backing vocal treatment about 2:30 in, it’s a perfect embodiment of the utter tininess you can feel as a human being. Should have cut the drum machine out at that point. Still, there’s something a bit Björk ca. Homogenic about those minimal and scared-sounding beats with the sad strings (like “Hunter” if the narrator was actually the hunted), and that never fails to work on me.
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