Follow-up to the follow-up, rebounding a bit…
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[7.14]
Will Adams: Sofi de la Torre has yet to create a song that’s less than “good,” and “Mess” continues her streak. The spare, clicking verses almost give way to a full release on the chorus, but it’s only the synth chords that pierce through the mess, with Sofi firmly asserting her independence from cookie-cutter ideals. There’s no giant snare or rolling bassline that might accompany other, bigger pop songs. Restraint is a knack of hers; she ends her songs with the knots still wound tight. The only solution is to play it again.
[8]
Iain Mew: “I’m never gonna be your fancy dinner lady” is one of the oddest images a pop song has put in my head this year, but it somehow makes me warm to Sofi even more. Maybe it’s because awkwardness and having the confidence to own it is what she does so well throughout “Mess.” She turns pre-emptive resignation into hard won triumph, her verses tiptoeing around creaking organ on their way to the bright, tightly packed chorus, emotions all given their moment.
[8]
Juana Giaimo: The stereotype for a heterosexual young relationship is tiring: while the girl is committed to the relationship, the boy wishes he was free and could hang out with his male friends, but pretends in front of his girlfriend to be an ideal boyfriend. In “Mess,” Sofi de la Torre inverts the roles, but instead of pretending to be someone else, she is sincere. Behind her delicate vocals there is a clear message with no pity for the boy and no guilt in herself: she simply isn’t the girl you wanted, so get over it.
[8]
Thomas Inskeep: I love the spareness of the verses, and also the way it goes big on the chorus (CRJ-big, that is, not like TS-big). De la Torre’s voice is gorgeous, too. In feel this reminds me of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own,” only I believe this in a way I never did Robyn. Perfect for late-night solo dancing, and surprisingly moving.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: Sofi de la Torre is on the verge of being picked up by the hype machines of the music world; who could blame her for recording more of this En Vogue-quoting, Banks-leaning pop-R&B it loves instead of the introvert anthems that resonate mostly with music critics? The arrangement is spare, doing exactly what it needs to and no more; the lyric is good (if undersung) and often quite quotable. Less good: the chorus of “Dynamite” synth stabs.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Those synth stab triplets are purest Carly Rae Jepsen, and judging by the response to “Vermillion” last year de la Torre might, like Jepsen, suspect that her biggest fans are critics. After a couple listens this emerges as a boring song whose mild tension stems from the way de la Torre’s breathy higher register butts heads against the idle arrangement.
[4]
Dorian Sinclair: My favourite thing about Sofi de la Torre’s still-small catalogue is how expansive her songs feel — the arrangements give the lyrics space to grow, to take root somewhere within the listener. She made a hell of a first impression on me with “Vermillion,” and while the intervening songs haven’t had quite the same impact, “Mess” comes close to capturing that spark. There’s a similar push and pull in the lyrics, a tension between wistfulness and bravado. “Mess” is closer to the latter end of that scale than “Vermillion” was, but the posturing in the lyrics is undercut by the moody swell in the instruments, and when she sings “I need a break man/I don’t need this” it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself as much as she is the person it’s ostensibly directed to. That space, the vulnerability behind that front, is something that resonates very deeply with me.
[8]