Scion strikes a [5] — uninspired?
[Video]
[5.00]
Ian Mathers: There’s a great moment in Party Down, one of the best jokes in the whole series, that ends with Jane Lynch responding to the question “how big would a bird have to be for you to be, like, super-scared of it?” with the following, delivered in heart-rending sincerity: “I’m sorry, Kyle. I can’t think straight right now, and that’s such a good question.” Right now, that’s what it feels like trying to articulate anything more complicated than “yeah, it’s pretty nice” about an awful lot of the music out there. This is from January but it feels like it could be from a hundred years ago, and I don’t mean sonically.
[5]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: A duet so all-encompassingly warm and sweet that it’s hard to say all that much about it. It’s a pairing I wouldn’t necessarily expect to work, but Marley’s looseness is the necessary companion to H.E.R.’s studio perfection — he brings out the best in her, allowing for her vocals to enter a more playful space than where they usually land. The whole track is a celebration, with enough flourishes and details to transcend mere vibe music, but a relaxed enough feeling to put you at ease as the guitars and horns dance to a subtle climax.
[8]
David Sheffieck: At this point H.E.R. is approaching a nearly two-year run of extremely accomplished singing on extremely dull songs; it’s a track record so perfectly blemished I almost hope she is aiming for it. My last encounter with Skip Marley was “Chained to the Rhythm” — so for him, this is a step forward in that it’s not an instant punchline. Unfortunately it’s also a step backward in that it’s instantly forgotten.
[2]
Alex Clifton: I’m not sure this needed to be a reggae song? It’s laid-back and chilled but it’s also dull. Nothing about this makes me actually want to slow down, because I kept hoping the song would end soon. H.E.R. sounds great, but that’s not enough to save a mediocre duet from itself.
[4]
Oliver Maier: Marley just about manages on his own, but “Slow Down” is improved by the introduction of H.E.R.; the interplay that the pair arrive at feels both charming and unforced. No big surprises, just a straight cruise from point A to point B in one gear.
[5]
Scott Mildenhall: So quintessential that it’s inessential, “Slow Down”, perhaps the second in a series following the similarly passed-down “Calm Down”, doesn’t linger in the memory. It has more going for it than “Calm Down”, being that bit more classicist and bearing the bonus of duet interplay to make its generalities more specific, but it remains unlikely to wake up the lions.
[6]