First Impressions is people with opinions reviewing people with songs out of five. This week Quavo, Ella Mai, Little Mix and more face the jury.
Quavo - Champagne Rose (Feat. Cardi B & Madonna)
Georgia Griffiths: This is pretty dreadful. It’s hard to see what the point of it is, considering it sounds like an average version of Quavo/Migos’ other stuff. It’s also a shame to see Madonna reduced to a weird auto-tuned backing vocal. 1
Sam Murphy: This song had so much potential but it’s a catastrophic mess. It’s like the vocal takes got mixed up and no one bothered to fix it. The whole thing just feels like it’s got absolutely no flow to it and not even a half decent Cardi verse can save it. 1.5
Astrid S - Emotion
Georgia: This reminds me of the piano-heavy quirky pop from the late 2000’s - it’s very Sara Bareilles. It’s not bad, but it’s not very memorable. My favourite bit is probably the whistling outro. 3
Sam: This is just a bloody solid pop song. It doesn’t do anything tricky and it really doesn’t need to. The melody is super tight and even that drop isn’t annoying despite a whistle which is almost impossible these days. I think Astrid S is the perfect popstar and I hope she breaks through with this. 4
Maggie Rogers - Light On
Georgia: Sometimes I feel like Maggie Rogers is a long-lost HAIM sister. ‘Light On’ would fit right into their repertoire, and I love it. It’s another one of those sad-yet-inspiring songs that Rogers does so well. 4
Sam: This is really beautiful, Fleetwood Mac Tusk era type stuff. Maggie’s voice is instantly recognisable and I think it’s a little more individual than Give A Little. I’m not getting overly excited like I was with Alaska or On + Off but it’s definitely a sweet taste of the album. 3.5
Little Mix - Woman Like Me (Feat. Nicki Minaj)
Georgia: This might be a bit of a stretch for everyone else, but the reggae beat in this just makes me remember the time Jesy did the “Jamaican” accent. As such, I can’t listen to this without laughing and the song is kind of ruined for me. 2
Sam: Little Mix are the best girl group since Destiny’s Child and Spice Girls, in my opinion. I prefer them on songs that are more pop-centred but I still think this is a really clever move for them. They still have to crack the US pop market and with Fifth Harmony out of the picture, they really could with this. It’s the sequel to Side To Side really but I’m ok with that. 3.5
Ella Mai - Sauce
Georgia: I’m very here for this new wave of British RnB. Jorja Smith and Ella Mai are doing some cool things, and this one feels like a perfect song to chill out with in the middle of summer. The spoken word outros are also growing on me. 4
Sam: I have no idea how Ella Mai keeps making bops out of songs that would sound very ordinary at the hands of anyone else. This is a jam and a half. I think I like it even more than Trip and yet there’s nothing I could say individually excites me about this. It floats and it’s a vibe. Yep, I said it’s a vibe. Sorry. 4
Alma - Cowboy
Georgia: I liked this more after a few listens. The emphasis on the word ‘cowboy’ weirdly adds a lot to the chorus. The one part I’m not a huge fan of is the “honest as a virgin/pissin’ holy water” line at the beginning of the second verse - it just sounds like it wouldn’t be pleasant. 3.5
Sam: This is really not what I was expecting to get from Alma. It took me a few listens too but now I think I’m starting to dig this Alma-goes-western vibe. It’s most likely not going to set the charts alight for her but it carves a pretty individual lane for her which is something she needed to do. 3.5
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