After debuting with a slightly bratty sound, Baby DONT Cry have made a seemingly permanent transition into glossy pop music. Though their recent pre-release Shapeshifter didn’t do much for me, there’s no denying that its an earworm. The chorus is still stuck in my head. Next up is title track Bittersweet, which adheres to a similarly lightweight pop palette.
This sound is fairly innocuous and unmabitious, but it’s pleasant to the ear. The group’s clear, youthful vocals fit the style well even if the performances do little to distinguish Bittersweet from any other current girl group track. The missing piece here is a “wow factor.” Its as if the dial for the whole song is set at a “7” when it could have been cranked up to “10.” We need some memorable synth line or percussion that hits with more character. As is, the song has been shaved of all edges and comes across as frictionless. And without any structural momentum, Bittersweet (pleasantly) treads water without even attempting to swim.
Writing about “pleasant” songs like this is actually kind of difficult, and it feels like that’s all I’ve been doing for the past few months. There’s nothing about Bittersweet that’s poorly produced or performed. It ticks all the “basic pop song” boxes and I suppose if you’d never heard a pop song before it might have a more exciting effect. Unfortunately, I’ve heard many thousands of pop songs in my life and there’s not much about Bittersweet that stands out within that pantheon.
Hooks
8
Production
7
Longevity
8
Bias
8
RATING
7.75
Grade: C+
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