Legends?…
[Video][Website]
[6.00]
Micha Cavaseno: There’s something to be said about a kiss-off that’s literally saying that the singer’s “back from hell”. You don’t get a lot more full of righteous vengeance on a song than that.
[7]
Iain Mew: Jolin has been making exciting music for a long time, but her current album Play still takes a big step up. Her songs pair straightforward but tight pop hooks and structures with thickly heavy production, creating this amazing high density, high impact music. “I’m Not Yours,” with its booming army stomp and “NANANANA,” is a great example, and has the added benefit of another skilled veteran performer. Namie Amuro alternates between trying to one-up Jolin and joining together with her for even more force, and they light up a set of already enjoyable lyrics with disco ball dazzle.
[9]
Cédric Le Merrer: This builds up organically and breaks down in unexpected ways (if not at unexpected moments) not once but twice, like the best prog-bangers of YG Entertainment. And there’s only two singers so for once I can easily identify who’s doing what and they both have the space to build a dynamic performance: Jolin Tsai is venomous, Namie Amuro more sassy. Together they bring a perfect #misandry GIF to life. Also: the video is on full PlayStation 1 FMV mode which is obviously a great thing.
[9]
Alfred Soto: “I just wanna be myself,” Tsai sings over Eurofestival stutter-house pabulum that Wiley might have approved. The Milton quote deserves better.
[2]
Scott Mildenhall: Perhaps the tune at the start isn’t quite the one that plays through Inna’s “Endless”, but “I’m Not Yours” is still a disjointed composite of a few things that had their moment a few years ago, in Europe at least. There are hints of RedOne, Madeon and “Pon De Floor” — good reference points, just lacking a logical pattern.
[5]
Will Adams: The track jostles as rowdily as RedOne circa 2011, so there’s at least a suggestion of fun. But Jolin Tsai and Namie Amuro take things too seriously, and they’re unable to give even a line like “Boys are stupid, let them fall” the smirk it deserves.
[5]
Brad Shoup: I hear “Foolin'” in the chorus, but I like these harmonies better. Tsai’s hellraising and her putting her girls on really stuff the tent; but that pirate melody knocks a chunk out of the pole.
[6]
Katherine St Asaph: “Applause,” Major Lazer and the last four years’ DJ Earworms are all in the hopper; so recontextualized the sounds are kinda solid, if still dated.
[5]