Bang bang!
[Video][Website]
[6.14]
Iain Mew: Seinabo Sey announced herself with “Younger,” which cleverly established her soul credentials before exploding with beats and production trickery. “Pistols at Dawn” is blended more smoothly, and ends up a powerfully clear and precise alternative to Lykke Li’s “Gunshot”. Not so smooth, however, as to not have ridiculous sound effects to go with its dramatisation, which, I think, is a positive.
[8]
Anthony Easton: I love the stuttering quality of this, and how it destabilizes the generic light funk. An extra point for how blatant the gunshots are.
[5]
Sonia Yang: Possessing the kind of husky alto that Lana Del Rey only manages a cheap imitation of, Sey both accuses and laments, switching between dark jaded tones and fragile vulnerability with ease. The synthesized backing vocals had me momentarily afraid “Pistols at Dawn” would veer off into Mylo Xyloto-era Coldplay, but thankfully it comes off as Hunger Games soundtrack instead. A lot of potential here, but the song keeps building up without ever reaching the expected payoff.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: Great voice, but everything around it is way too slow.
[5]
Brad Shoup: The first lyric site I went to renders it “I never thought we could be/PISTOLS AT DAWN!”, which is great even if it oversells Sey’s delivery, which treats the refrain like an extension of the carefully-uncoiled verses. The martial atmosphere is just that: not oppressive, but hanging like musket smoke. The gorgeous wordless hook is processed and backgrounded, one more element that sells the image of the only two people in the world.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: There hasn’t been an Adele album in years, but this is what I imagine one might sound in 2014, when her format (if not precisely her genre)’s been steeped in maximalist adult contemporary and brooding sorta-dark pop. The resulting sound is immediately impressive in a haughty, weighty way, but let a few minutes pass and it reveals itself as lightweight.
[6]
David Sheffieck: The lyric’s a bit weak, but Sey’s an unstoppable force: she’s enough to sell the clichés, her voice rich and weighty and haunting. This is an interesting turn from the more groove-based “Hard Time,” and one that suggests Sey is still figuring out her identity. If she can find some way to combine the songwriting of her previous single with the vocal range on display here, she’ll really be on to something.
[6]