I suppose one could describe horniness as a distress signal…
Ian Mathers: That title promises something deliriously horny and/or hilariously silly and I am very glad both that it’s the former and that Usher shows he is still exactly the guy you call in for this kind of thing. I kind of expect “wonder which one of my lips gon’ be your first kiss” to show up in multiple blurbs, but I hope “pin my legs to the clouds/and I hope you’re ready for the rain” get some love too.
[9]
Melody Esme: Two good R&B singers singing about banging each other. Hard to mess that up, and this doesn’t; I dig the steamy, flirty energies radiating off the two of them, and the horns are great. Still, I’m mostly obsessed with the sheer weirdness of “I wonder which one of my lips gon’ be your first kiss.” I mean, a partner’s 50/50 choice where both options are equally good isn’t really on my mind when I’m about to hook up, but… oh wait, she follows that with “Doesn’t matter ‘cause they both gon’ fit you perfect.” The slow jam equivalent to “If I was a sculptor/But then again, no.”
[7]
Julian Axelrod: It takes a serious amount of charm and craftsmanship to make this level of cartoon wolf horniness feel warm and romantic. Throwing in some “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” type horns never hurts either.
[8]
Mark Sinker: Nothing here you couldn’t have heard 50 years ago, except a couple of moves in the love-language, perhaps, right up until Usher low-stutters in — at which point the two styles frame each other very pleasantly. Not exactly Afro-Futurism, for sure, but nice to have on the background.
[7]
Kayla Beardslee: It’s blowing my mind that D’Mile didn’t produce this. Excellent job, Darhyl Camper: if I didn’t check Genius, I never would’ve known! Victoria Monét on “horns and synth-waterfalls” R&B is a guaranteed hit every time: this is like a sequel to 2020’s “Dive,” and just as smooth and sexy. I feel like holding my breath when the song fades out on those gentle sighs of “SOS, babe…”
[8]
Nortey Dowuona: After learning that Daniel Church cowrote this future classic, trumpeter and teacher Kevin Woods played horns, that cowriter Ido Zmishlany was behind this classic Demi deep cut with more layers of warm trumpet, and that producer Darhyl Camper, Jr. was on both the best Big Sean song and the second-best, did I have a chance rating of this below a [6]? No. (Ant Clemons stopped this going above [8], unfortunately.)
[7]
Claire Davidson: As a slow-burn sex jam, “SOS (Sex on Sight)” has the fundamentals down to a science, full of rich bass, hypnotic vocal harmonies, and subtle but inviting touches of guitar that accentuate the song’s scintillating melody. Victoria Monét’s performance is impressive, too, sultry but mature in tone, providing the kind of confidence that’s enticing but not overpowering. If anything, I’d say that this song’s biggest flaw is that, in attempting to cede ground to his duet partner, Usher is actually the one underplaying here. The tension he creates with Monét does have its own charm in Usher’s suggestive deliberation, but I kept waiting for the moment where the two vocalists’ chemistry would really explode — a point that, for all of the song’s excellent craftsmanship, never truly arrives.
[7]
Katherine St. Asaph: A pleasantly relaxed, lived-in booty-call track — that is, whenever the singsong horns aren’t around to cockblock everyone.
[4]
Dave Moore: Maybe I’m just getting old, but I can’t imagine doing anything to this music other than taking a nap.
[5]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: You can’t fool me — that’s the “Pink Matter” bass tone! This is clear and blatant sex jam textural plagiarism, one of the great crimes in R&B history.
[5]
Jel Bugle: I mean, I dunno, not that sexy, more a Co-Op own brand Sex Jam, than anything that special.
[6]
Leah Isobel: I initially felt put off by the weird plasticky sheen applied to Monét’s vocal here. I softened on further listening, given that the horns receive the same smoothness and that Usher is a human smoothing effect — it feels less like it’s supposed to create a perfect end product and more like perfectness is part of the song’s thematic thrust. Like, they’re supposed to sound like literal stars, burning to fuck, massive and unrecognizable, unimpeachable. Maybe I’m overanalyzing.
[6]
Alfred Soto: She loves bass lines like she loves sex on sight, and while Usher’s appearance on first listen sounds gratuitous, he’s here to remind audiences about grown-up sex. Victoria Monét needs no reminders.
[8]