The score differential here should surprise no one…
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[6.75]
Alfred Soto: Pizzicato drums ‘n’ bass, ideal in 1996 beside Everything But The Girl. It threatens war when her voice cracks.
[7]
Scott Mildenhall: Wilkinson’s drum & brass approach on “Too Close” is more airy than anything Rudimental’s yet assembled but, crucially, lacking in vision. In “Waiting All Night” the horns and organ are simultaneously as frenzied, desperate and delirious as Ella Eyre’s self-destructive mantra of an internal monologue. Detour City sings of wanting to be alone, but the trumpets trundle along as if it’s something she’s resigned to. It’s a reliable sound, but Wilkinson doesn’t seem to know what to do with it.
[6]
Brad Shoup: Drum ‘n’ bass in the mesosphere, yet the singer never evaporates. The pivot to dub is light, and the step back isn’t crushingly obvious either. It’s a bit of a push and pull, I suppose, but nearly every element nails an atmospheric role when it could have been promoted to hook duty.
[8]
Anthony Easton: This does a great job at atmospherics, working out how it’s feeling beyond the vocals and then having the vocals being mixed low, another atmosphere in an almost exhausting paranoia. It makes sense that she won’t give away her heart, because this doesn’t give anything else away.
[5]
Juana Giaimo: I wish that short verse after the second minute lasted longer; it’s such a necessary pause for this repetitive song.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: Tabitha Benjamin is, as the press says, One to Watch — and certainly her current career path is more rewarding to watch than the Brit-pop, Ed Sheeran-opener folkie scene she’d trod before. Here she transforms (or Tracey Thorns) Wilkinson’s retrofetishism into what it was originally supposed to admire: gorgeous prickliness, the sound of a million hearts fluttering shut.
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: Strikes a nice balance between elegance and speed, but never really explores beyond that.
[6]
Rebecca A. Gowns: What a great track! It’s got a lot of energy, but it’s also clean, not at all fussy — focused, but also relaxed, like performing breathing exercises while working your core. It fulfills all the requirements for a good drum-n-bass song, then puts in some extra credit with a bridge that pulls back just enough to rubber-band-snap you back into the hook.
[9]