Taio Cruz - 'She's Like A Star'
Sometimes when a particular person or artist does something very well, it becomes a bit untouchable for awhile as everyone gets caught up in the idea that no one else can do it. Synthy R&B, for instance, is currently totally the domain of Timbaland. This has clearly embedded in my brain to the extent that when I first heard this song (and indeed the whole of Taio's album) all I could think was "hrmm, Timbaland-y." Which is totally unfair given that a) this song sounds more Neptunes-esque (when the Neptunes are on a good day, anyway) and b) Taio produced the whole thing himself, so technically it's Cruz-y.
I really didn't agree with 'I Can Be' as the follow-up single to 'Come On Girl'. Following an edgy, fast-paced, dirty-sounding megahit - featuring my beloved Luciana - with something that sounded frighteningly like the Lighthouse Family covering the Fray was more than a little disappointing, given the amazing songs available for release on 'Departure.'
It just seemed like a terrible attempt to appeal to this new 'mainstream' (ie: white, middle class -a demographic I'm not going to deny being part of) fanbase Taio had grabbed a bit of with an electroclash-y hit, terribly backfiring since the audience were probably after more of the edginess and filth from 'Come On Girl' not ...well, basically not 'I Can Be.'
Consequently, I'm pretty damned pleased that 'She's Like A Star' is the new single, with its tempestuous synths and chipmunked loop vocal it manages to avoid trying to sound cool, and as a result sounds infinitely cooler than 'I Can Be'.
The storyline of 'Departure,' such as there is one, seems to be a very tumultuous love affair, on and off and on and off all across the album, with this the final 'on' note, being the second-to-last song on the album and followed up by the very heartbreaking 'Can't Say Go,' all about not quite being able to break off something that you know is no good.
The seething bed of synths underneath the vocal loop is the sort of thing that would a mega-platinum worldwide hit if the aforementioned Neptunes or Timbaland gave the song to Justin Timberlake and rightly so. Unfortunately, of course, you have to wonder if this will even hit the Top 10 in the UK, let alone anywhere else but the sheer gloss of Taio's production, arrangement and songwriting on the song is spectacular.
This is such a hopelessly sloppy ballad but the minor-key eeriness of the arrangement prevents it turning into something horrific that sort of dribbles out of your speakers and with enough of an interesting beat that it maintains pace and holds its strange constituent parts together. Any song which can make a vocal loop as frankly odd-sounding as the "like a star, like a star, like a star" element of this going through almost the entire duration of the song without it sounding incredibly irritating or just plain weird and indeed instead making it sound quite natural is pretty extraordinary.
At first, I was going to give it four stars but then realised that if Omarion released this song, I'd be so all over it I'd be asking Fraser if I could give it six and the only thing holding me back from giving it full marks was the fact it's not quite the best song on 'Departure.'
Download: Out now
CD Released: August 18th
(Hazel Robinson)
Of course, alternative opinions are available: acknowledges Taio as a "British Timbaland" but apparently thinks 'I Can Be' was a far better single and this is an average R&B ballad, so it takes all sorts.
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