So then I says to Mabel, I says…
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[4.38]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: Old Rules
[2]
Thomas Inskeep: Mabel deserves better than Dua Lipa’s trop-house cast-offs.
[4]
Katherine St Asaph: Mabel’s steely performance elevates this rote trop-house, as does the slight hint of tension: Every time things get good, the mood’s punctured — or invited to be punctured — by “don’t call me up.” (Though the intent’s probably just to cram the hook in as many times as possible.) Nevertheless, it is still rote trop-house.
[5]
Nortey Dowuona: Mabel’s slight, soft voice is dragged down by the plummeting production, especially the glazed donut Autotune on the chorus.
[5]
Ramzi Awn: Mabel’s delivery is endearingly earnest, and the chorus is just weird enough to reel you in. The galloping beat keeps it fun as the pitched-down vocals clinch the deal in the end. Overall, a surprising reworking of some old cliches.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Except for a piano interlude, the trop house doesn’t bother to adjust itself to Mabel’s earnestness. The vocal distortion was a terrible idea. When you have Mabel, dudes, you don’t need distortion.
[4]
Edward Okulicz: More trop-house should have piano in it. This song has some, but could certainly stand to have a bit more of it. It should have less wheel-spinning and distorted vocals, certainly. A pleasing stridency comes through in Mabel’s performance, but only in flashes, because to just listen to the song is to be distracted b how shopworn the rhythm is in 2019.
[5]
Iris Xie: This is a grody, warm mimosa of tropical house pop. It’s a perfect generic globalized song though, as it fits in everywhere regardless of locale. Background music on tepid.
[3]