Hitsville, Victoria…
[Video][Website]
[6.18]
Edward Okulicz: I’m not saying Gotye doesn’t have soul, just that “I Feel Better” doesn’t have the stuff in abundance. Pastiches of Motown are all very well but this feels constructed out of paper; that might just be the drums, though. The arrangement just skips along sunnily rather than projecting infectious joy and the song is kind of catchy but not extremely catchy. Gotye actually has the voice to pull this stuff off though, which might come as enough of a surprise to radio to give him a proper follow-up hit in the States. Don’t count on it. Still, there’s always “Save Me” for another roll of the dice, record company lurkers!
[6]
Katherine St Asaph: It’s baffling how often Carly Rae Jepsen, of the year’s three sudden breakouts, gets predicted as the one-hit wonder, considering how readily her voice sweetens the daily dreck. Seems to me Gotye’s the one, since Phil Collins pastiche sounds nothing like this Motown pastiche. It’s still pretty great pastiche, mind. But as a follow-up single?
[6]
Alfred Soto: Aiming for Marvin Gaye and achieving Jimmy Cliff — Goyte in a nutshell.
[5]
Andy Hutchins: AND MOTOWN MADE BETTER BREAKUP SONGS, TOO.
[3]
Sabina Tang: Precise retromania — I wouldn’t blink if this turned up in a computer-generated playlist of Motown cuts, except to wonder what was off about the singer’s accent. But Gotye has the lungs to sell his pastiche, and the sampled fanfares cue messy joy, not elaborate tastefulness.
[8]
Anthony Easton: Optimism and joy seem genuinely hard to do in pop music, as does this level of lightness, and control — no delicacy, but some serious commitment. Extra point for the horns.
[7]
Will Adams: Making Mirrors is such a stylistically diverse ride that it’s no surprise that the Motown pop pastiche is its low point. When “I Feel Better” is not held to the album’s standard, though, it still holds up. The horn fanfare cuts through the mix like a burst of confetti, the drum fills pulse, the percussion clatters, but it’s Gotye’s voice that’s the star player. Palpably bright, it’s as if he somehow knew when he was recording this a year ago that he would have a reason to be smiling all the time. How prescient.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: Before 2011, my favorite Gotye song was “Learnalilgivinanlovin”. This is drawn from precisely the same off-brand Sixties-sampling well, and while that cod-Motown stomp is still a jolt to my music-critic lizard-brain, the stiffness of the loops and the lack of any counternarrative to his carefully-curated joy curdles into something less bright and cheerful than it wants to be.
[5]
Mallory O’Donnell: Several of the component musical parts here are really quite refreshing for 2012 (even more so for whenever this was actually recorded), particularly the hyper-constrained and compressed organ, the skittering drums and that blarty, perfectly overloud horn. If this was a bit less of a Motown pastiche it would be an outstanding song, rather than simply far, far superior to most of what passes for such on US radio.
[6]
Brad Shoup: Exquisite mindlessness, delivered with determined soul at the top of his tenor. I’ve been hearing Marvin Gaye so often this year… the percussive knocks are straight from “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and the widescreen chorus is a stunning Motown approximation. Here’s another comparison: the Steve Winwood vocal vibe, which is — and I don’t say this lightly — strong enough to give Dennis Reynolds a perma-boner. “Vacation” got a 10 because the cheer so clearly papered over a dark truth. Magesterial horn coloration aside, Gotye’s cheer is just a juggernaut, all generic situations and craft for craft’s sake. “It belongs in a diet soda commercial with scores of beautiful people giving you a big thumbs-up,” wrote Scott Creney, and doesn’t that sound wonderful?
[10]
Patrick St. Michel: I have been meaning to listen to more Jamie Lidell, thanks for reminding me to get on that Gotye.
[5]