Ouch…
[Video]
[3.83]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: The best thing about “Hurts Like Hell” is how it has the semblance of sounding like a confident, post-breakup kiss-off but is actually more vulnerable than not. The chorus finds the titular line sung with as much bitterness as feelings of betrayal, something made clearer through the pained delivery of the following line, “You shoulda never let me go.” The stadium-ready drums clear a way for Madison Beer to vent, but it’s not until the final, synth-filled chorus that her anger has rid itself of all self-pity. Offset’s verse is perfunctory, as expected, but it’s better this way: his unnecessary rambling is exactly the sobering reality check one needs to feel vindicated about any ill will wished upon an ex. Even still, Charli XCX’s buried harmonies and the well-executed drop during the second verse are enough to keep me coming back.
[6]
Ramzi Awn: Madison Beer delivers the sort of compressible vocals that have propelled Camila Cabello to superstardom with oomph, but the expert writing on “Hurts Like Hell” can’t quite mask how overproduced the single is. Still, it packs a punch like we haven’t heard since “Inside Out” by Britney Spears or “Work From Home” from Fifth Harmony, hitting refresh on some good old tricks. There are some quality licks, and the major chord transition on the chorus serves it well. But overall, Beer comes out more Becky G than Britney.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Years of promotion and you’d think she’d have grown a personality or at least a “brand.”
[2]
Katherine St Asaph: Over seven years after first being PR’d via Justin Bieber’s Twitter, Madison Beer finally has something like a proper radio single. It would have been a better one if it came out seven years ago, when a song called “Hurts Like Hell” might sound like someone somewhere is hurting like hell, rather than sitting with the placid, flattened feelings of a Hailee Steinfeld song. Imagine “Gives You Hell” covered acoustically and pleasantly on Tik Tok. There’s a giant oversized drum crash at 0:54 as if the song suddenly remembered pop can sound big and exciting, but then it immediately forgets it in shame.
[3]
Thomas Inskeep: Nothing-special pop with a too-slow rhythm, a booming bass, and an unnecessary rap interlude, in which an anonymous female sings a variation on “you hurt me so I want revenge.” In six months, no one will recall that this song existed.
[0]
Stephen Eisermann: The best part about this track is Offset rapping about someone cheating on him and how he hopes they suffer, especially in light of his recent split with Cardi. The pettiness and hook (however dated the production is) are fun, too, but the irony is just too good to be topped.
[6]