Somebody needs a hug…
[Video][Website]
[5.38]
Alfred Soto: My favorite R&B album of the year after Miguel’s has struggled on the pop charts, and the schizo impulses behind Guetta-baiting concessions like this probably haven’t been lost on the general public, which can smell desperation. His performance deserves better.
[4]
Jer Fairall: With a singles output representing the best (“Climax,” “Lemme See”) and the worst (“Scream”) that the admirably, awkwardly ambitious Looking 4 Myself has to offer, “Numb” splits the difference with a dreamy swirl of ravey Euro synths and a vocal performance from Ursh that registers as far more deeply felt than this kind of hedge-betting dance floor filler typically requires. There’s a thinkpiece waiting to be written on this being exactly the kind of lyric that would have been belted out by some anonymous house diva fifteen years ago over comparable music, on what exactly it means that we keep losing so many of our popular male R&B vocalists to a genre with such pansexual connotations, but in the meantime, “Numb” provides an unusually pretty distraction.
[6]
Erick Bieritz: Sonically closer to the intolerable “Scream” than the delectable “Climax,” “Numb” is still several steps up from the former, and it’s actually restrained compared to “Euphoria,” Swedish House Mafia’s totally goofy second contribution to Usher’s album. The entire electro-pop trend of recent years is distorted by the heavy gravity of the worst productions, to such a degree that it’s hard to even hold anything against a competently painless production like “Numb.” And so the genre’s grand goalpost-shifting scheme continues…
[4]
Patrick St. Michel: The whole build-to-the-anthemic-chorus approach is pretty standard as these things go and the lyrical content might as well come from a college freshman’s Facebook quotes sections, but damn it, Usher delivers this with way more force than it deserves and it works.
[7]
Ramzi Awn: The chorus almost makes up for the negligible verses, but not quite. With a tune made for the Olympics and lyrics that barely make sense, “Numb” should have let Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” be the last word on personal strength for a good long while.
[5]
Anthony Easton: I am numb from the meaningless platitudes and the sheer bombast, like Usher’s trying to convince the audience that he has ideas worth listening to. Some points for how glittering and expensive the production is — studio magic for the sake of studio magic must be worth something.
[4]
Jonathan Bogart: A soaring, joy-flecked ode to being so overwhelmed by the tragedy of life that you shut down internally is an interesting corrective to the many downbeat, mumbled songs that are supposed to be some kind of celebration of the the singer’s economic, sexual, and chemical prowess.
[7]
Will Adams: Divorced from its Super Serious Video, “Numb” is actually quite fun, from its warbling synths to its singable melody. It’s not as loud as “Scream” and all the better for it. If this somehow signifies a trend of moving towards dancepop that just tries to shake the walls instead of blow the whole house down, then I’m happy to put further Diplo collaborations on hold.
[6]