It's been nearly three years since we've heard from the
ladies of Girls Aloud as a whole. Between a couple mini-reunions, a cancelled
2010 LP, a handful of solo albums (some certainly worse than others) and
branched out side projects, things overall seemed to quiet down. That is until
a few days ago with the early release of a brand new single "Something New".
Straight away, there really isn't anything new about this.
It's a dance track about dancing and feeling empowered and running the
show--reminiscent of Beyonce running the world with who? Girls.
The opening rallying cry, "Go girls...We girls gonna
take control / You boys better know know we girls gonna run this show" [I
have actually shortened the mind-numbing repetitions] actually fooled me for a
moment; in light of the recent socio-political war over birth control and
abortion in the United States, a line like, "All I want is something new,
something I can hold on to," can easily be interpreted as a firm demand for
actual, concrete change in society's attitude toward women's rights. But that
all falls apart immediately with "I don't wanna talk. I just wanna dance."
Well, okay. So no points for crafting a thinly-disguised critique on the
Americas. Still pretty catchy though.
But not by a whole lot. The beat is so bland that it could
easily get lost in any modern dance-pop playlist. Switching things up is a bit
of rapping, but lines like "Down with the rhythm on another street, Gotta
let this go cause I feel so free" delivered so flatly make one to yearn
for a little more...personality? Conviction? Better lyrics? Anything, really.
In short, Girls Aloud may indeed be the "leaders of the
pack" in terms of British pop stars, but seem to be playing it a bit too
comfortable with this lead single. I'd like something new as well, y'know.
~Jake