SPOILER: This isn’t actually about typesetting…
[Video][Website]
[6.64]
Katherine St Asaph: “Justify” is a great, crunchy word for lyrics, as Madonna knows. The brass provides the oomph the vocal doesn’t quite (it’d be better an octave down, no?), as does the careful cataloguing of dude sins: specific yet applicable to your shitty ex all the way up to the pisslord-in-chief.
[9]
Micha Cavaseno: Cheap a connection as it might be, but La Grange’s nasal vocal tone and song title do wonders in making me instantly associate the song with Madonna (even though her own pleas for justification were a bit less depth-charged production wise). As a result though, the surging commands for respect pale to the estranged and evanescent quality of the seeming precedent that Kyla La Grange attempts to invoke. There’s pluses and minuses to that, but the inability to commit to rougher or smoother edges result in a failure to really embody something all to herself.
[5]
Tim de Reuse: The sparse instrumental, based on grinding synths and subtle, noisy percussion, proves an… interesting complement to La Grange’s voice. On the one hand, I always appreciate tasteful restraint in pop instrumentals, and this one is simple, competent ear candy by any metric; on the other, she never seems to put a strong sense of effort into her performance, and these dramatic brass hits feel unglued from her high, feathery voice, like there’s some connective tissue missing from the recipe.
[6]
Ryo Miyauchi: The brass sets quite the stage, though La Grange can’t quite deliver. The idea of it sounds better than what’s done in practice. She has more than enough reasons stashed and her words land exactly as planned. But her voice sounds too rehearsed to convince. Her strength feels too light, nor do I pick up on enough heartache to side with her completely.
[5]
Jonathan Bradley: A wobbling synth bass lurks beneath “Justify” and it’s the most exciting part of a song weighed down by a stale breakbeat; it sounds like it might have been unearthed from a circa-2002 Kosheen b-side. Kyla La Grange’s version of dancefloor ecstasy is executed well with a high-pitched vocal and some well-timed wails but she never achieves escape velocity. There’s a song that’s simultaneously grittier and more ostentatious hidden in here; perhaps a remix can free it.
[5]
Alfred Soto: Like the Kate Bush looped into infinity on Utah Saints’ “Something Good,” Kyla La Grange attaches herself to a walloping keyboard riff, using misery as pleasure. On first listen “Justify” hews rather closely to the Jessie Ware of “Running” — I wanted faster and schlockier.
[6]
Mark Sinker: Grand candied pomp of an studiedly ambivalent call-out: the sound-surround of the aggrieved aspires to replicate the insufferable self-regard of the dumpee, the chords circle on the spot, and “malaise” is a word you only ever use of yourself…
[9]
Claire Biddles: As if in direct opposition to the recent deluge of songs about sex that aren’t sexy, “Justify” is a song that isn’t (directly) about sex but is sexy as all hell; building atmosphere and anticipation and holding back just enough.
[8]
Ramzi Awn: A good example of an artist doing their homework right, “Justify” makes use of unconventional references. If the beginning lacks direction, it is all made up for by the time the second chorus hits. This is what you call a “second verse” song — insofar as that is when the beats and clicks start to make sense. The high hats and synths usher the freestyle to a frenzied, weird and coalescing conclusion.
[7]
Hannah Jocelyn: The last the world heard from her, aside from one pretty good single in the middle of the year, was “So Sweet”, which I and a few other writers criticized for its melody and mixing, particularly on the chorus. It looks like La Grange reads the site, because “Justify” sounds fantastic and explosive, especially when it reaches the chorus. The lyrics are improved too: “You won’t build this house on sand because I want more” is a smartly crafted line, not a kiss-off so much as a threat of a kiss-off waiting to happen, in the vein of “Don’t Hurt Yourself.” That and the sparser instrumentation results in a different direction, but still consistent with her other songs. It could build a little bit more from section to section, but “Justify” shows that she’s getting better, and will probably continue to get better as she releases more music.
[7]
David Sheffieck: Last time around, Kyla La Grange sounded like Grimes for Grimes fans who were desperate for anything to tide themselves over until the second album. Here she sounds more confident, more distinctive, more like someone worth listening to in her own right. The production in particular is worth noting: those bursts of brass, the scuffle of the percussion, the synth popping out of the margins for punctuation. At times it threatens to overwhelm La Grange’s vocal; perhaps she’s still adjusting to the new idiom. This is good enough to suggest that should she manage the transition, she’ll really have something.
[6]