J-pop veteran has seen better reception around these parts…
[Video][Website]
[5.50]
Cassy Gress: It doesn’t sound identical, but this mostly just makes me think of Xtina’s song of the same name, in which her vocal acrobatics struggled to drag a rather limply written rock song along with them. This is the reverse, a generically powerful synth stomper with comparatively weak vocals. It’s especially noticeable in the chorus, on phrases like “If there, is a, chance that, I could, see you.” There are too many consonants too close together to make that phrase not sound awkward, even if she had been a native English speaker. Lyrics like “make my frown upside down” don’t exactly help.
[3]
Ramzi Awn: The barrage of noise that is “Fighter” takes it to the next level when Namie starts rapping, and though she seems to draw inspiration from a variety of sources, the Kesha-inspired stuttering chorus underscores the single’s singular lack of focus.
[4]
Gaya Sundaram: It’s a grower, but it still feels tired.
[5]
Ryo Miyauchi: The J-pop veteran struggles with her verses. More than stale lyrics, it’s her attempts to catch up with today’s ever-demanding vocal acrobatics that drags. But “don’t you know that I’m a fighter?” is a hook worn with pride by Namie Amuro, who has lived through two decades worth of trend shifts in dance-pop without much of a dent to her superstar status. And that vocal stutter behind the titular word continues to place her hot on the pulse of the charts.
[6]
Iain Mew: Namie Amuro sounds more at home than ever amidst big chunky electronic pop, probably because this sounds just like much of her albums of the last few years but even more ruthlessly direct, subtlety lost in the fi-i-i-i-ight. I imagine it has little chance of changing anyone’s mind, but hey, I already liked this stuff.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: Hi-NRG had a one-night stand with EDM at its most pneumatic, and this is the result. Amuro’s the perfect voice to take it on.
[7]
Will Adams: “Fighter” exists in the same realm of “I’m Not Yours,” with its 2010 stadium trance and staccato vocal hook. It brings the energy, but I prefer the Namie Amuro of “Golden Touch,” where she was allowed to shine without fighting so much with the music.
[5]
Edward Okulicz: Amuro’s grasp of English means she trips over her own consonants — I really thought she said she was “a leper, not a fighter” at one point. When I close my eyes and imagine she’s some Slovenian or Latvian girl singing for her life on the stage of Eurovision in the year 2006, I suddenly like it a lot more, because that’s exactly what it sounds like.
[7]