Don’t forget a particular kind of ’80s bombast…
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[6.57]
Ian Mathers: I would be thrilled if we decided as a culture to properly bring back this particular, skyline-swallowing strain of synthpop, actually. For now I guess I’ll just put on a mix next to “Emeralds Shatter” or something.
[8]
Katie Gill: Part of me wonders when this nostalgic 1980s synthpop aping will end and we’ll enter a new era of artists directly calling to a sound that happened before they were born. Maybe a new TikTok teenager will reinvent grunge? That would be neat. Of course, I will happily retract all my complaints if it turns out that Sky Ferreria has a deep and unabiding love for brash, bombastic 1980s pop but this sounds 1980s in the same way that Stranger Things does, referencing musical styles just for the sake of referencing musical styles. It’s the Ready Player One of 1980s music. Anyway, this sounds like perfectly serviceable Chvrches and I do not mean that as a compliment.
[6]
Alfred Soto: It almost booms and sears like the Sky Ferreira whose 2013 album caught me offguard with some of the sharpest songs about exploiting and being exploited by an industry insistent on treating young women as commodities. Mixed as loudly as the drums, she sounds in control — I miss when Florence Welch was like this.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: I know Sky Ferreira has an endlessly compelling story and is interesting and a talent but she’s also a thing people endlessly project their own preferences and belief in their superior taste onto. So I don’t expect too many people to come out and say what seems obvious: this is just value over replacement synth pop which dangles its signifiers in your face without doing much with them. Tasteful, and forgettable.
[4]
Thomas Inskeep: I mean, I have to give this a [6] just for its gigantic drums alone. Add in the swoony synths on the chorus and Ferreira’s oh-so-assured vocal, and it’s up to an…
[8]
Oliver Maier: Years of development hell for Ferreira’s new music meant that this could well have arrived in a state of tedious polish. The opposite ends up being true; “Don’t Forget” sounds like a Night Time, My Time song that’s been left to rust and then forced out of retirement. The drums thud unevenly, compression swallows up what is clearly a very layered instrumental — in a way, the music seems to be making the same demand that Ferreira is. That tinge of tragicomedy feels appropriate for an artist whose songs often grapple with the seemingly irreconcilable tasks of being cool and wearing your heart on your sleeve. It’s not a total knockout, but I can’t dislike it, particularly given that Ferreira can still turn in a better vocal performance than many of her big-ticket indie pop contemporaries.
[7]
Nortey Dowuona: I’m only going to say this once. we did not need Sky Ferreira to return us to an age most of our friends and parents and sugar-booted Heath Ledgers were entombed in forever, never to return. The drums are nice tho.
[6]