Please Note: What I am about to write are my opinions on a certain song I heard. If you disagree with them, that's totally fine.
Welcome back to Some Random Pop Nerd where we take a look at the popular music of the past and present. Today, I would like to introduce another segment called "New Entry Impressions", in which I pick out some newly charting songs I want to express my thoughts in depth on. Today on the table, we have "Treat You Better" by Shawn Mendes, which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at position #34 as of this writing.
If any of you follow teen pop or the mainstream charts, you would know that Canadian singer Shawn Mendes managed to snag a few hits with "Stitches" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer". Shawn Mendes was one of the many people pampered to replace Justin Bieber in his place as a famous teen idol.
Artist Impressions: What did I think of Shawn Mendes beforehand? To be honest, I thought that like some of these teen idol performers, Shawn Mendes had a lot of potential to undergo a decent career producing satisfactory material. I really liked his celebration anthem "Something Big", which sadly never became a huge hit in the American mainstream. However, when he released "Stitches" into the American mainstream, I initially thought it was a good enough song, but it wore off on me once I examined the Bieber undertones in the writing and the somewhat awkward production, balancing the acoustic guitar with the mandolin and Shawn's somewhat grating vocals. (I don't think it's bad, just pretty mediocre) His duet with Fifth Harmony singer Camilla Cabello "I Know What You Did Last Summer" also hit the airwaves, and I really disliked it for having oversaturated production and weak performances from both singers, as I felt the song had a lot of potential due to it's lyrics that depict a relationship from both perspectives. Needless to say, I was somewhat worried when I found out he released his new single, "Treat You Better". What do I think of it?
In all my days of reviewing and analyzing music, I had rarely come across something as utterly reprehensible as "Treat You Better". Imagine subtle Chris Brown levels of douchebaggery that he demonstrates in songs such as "Loyal" slathered with overly synthetic production and grating vocals. Those are my perceptions of the song itself.
The Production: Like I stated before, I think the production is an overly synthetic mess. To start, there are synthesizer keys substituting for guitars throughout the song. This bothers me especially as I can clearly hear the sound of a guitar creaking in the background. What happened, couldn't you afford an acoustic guitar? The percussion is also a wreck, with the reverb on the snare drums watering down every other element except the guitar and vocals, making it sound like a cluttered mess with the sound quality of a 128kbps mp3. The stereo panning of some of the percussion also turns me off, with elements such as the delayed snares giving off the vibe that the stereo expander was applied to it, making it sound very out of place to me. This is the kind of production that always irritates me in modern pop music, with the musical elements of the song being congealed into one giant disorganized mess. This production gets a 0.5/5.
The Vocals: Oh Christ, the vocals. Remember how I stated Mendes' vocals could get somewhat grating in "Stitches"? Well he pushes it to the absolute limit here, to the point where he also hits some off notes that make his voice crack. However, compared to how the vocals play off the lyrics, that's only the least of my worries. In the verses, Shawn's vocals are very weak and unconvincing, with him sticking to his lower range but without any of the energy that made "Something Big" enjoyable. However, it's the choruses and the bridge that push me to my limit, as instead of coming off as sympathetic like the song intended to, Mendes' vocals reek of fretfulness and unbearable desperation as he sticks to his more grating high vocal range. This reminds me of Simple Plan's wailing attempt at "pop-punk", where they came off as more whiny than sympathetic. These vocals receive a 0.5/5.
Overall Thoughts: In conclusion, I think this song is a trainwreck from top to bottom. When the whiny vocals are combined with the demeaning lyrics and the atrociously mixed production, it makes for one giant shitfest of a song. This is Shawn Mendes' worst single to date, where his lyrical content crosses over to Sam Hunt levels of disgust and WGWAG douchebag territory. If this becomes a bigger hit, it is a huge contender for my Worst Hit Songs of 2016 list. This song as a whole receives a 0.33/5.
I'm Some Random Pop Nerd, giving my thoughts on pop music as constructively as possible. Until next time, peace!
The Production: Like I stated before, I think the production is an overly synthetic mess. To start, there are synthesizer keys substituting for guitars throughout the song. This bothers me especially as I can clearly hear the sound of a guitar creaking in the background. What happened, couldn't you afford an acoustic guitar? The percussion is also a wreck, with the reverb on the snare drums watering down every other element except the guitar and vocals, making it sound like a cluttered mess with the sound quality of a 128kbps mp3. The stereo panning of some of the percussion also turns me off, with elements such as the delayed snares giving off the vibe that the stereo expander was applied to it, making it sound very out of place to me. This is the kind of production that always irritates me in modern pop music, with the musical elements of the song being congealed into one giant disorganized mess. This production gets a 0.5/5.
The Lyrics: Oooh boy, these lyrics are a goddamn trainwreck. Shawn tries to frame the situation as if the girl he approaches is having an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, but instead, like I stated before, the subtle Chris Brown levels of douchebaggery were too much to ignore for me. We are just told that Shawn approaches the girl because he wants to "treat her better". For one, this screams of the typical 'steal your girl' cliche in some brag-rap songs sugarcoated to subtlety so that Mendes' fans would eat it up anyway, as he never made it clear for what reason he approaches the girl despite framing it like I stated above. The lines "Tell me why are we wasting time and all on your wasted crime when you should be with me instead" and "Baby, just to wake up with you would be everything I need and this could be so different. Tell me what you want to do" drive this point home, as they reek of desperation to get into this girl's pants. To further drive the point home, the rest of these lyrics only consist of the cliched trope of "Be with me instead of him" in romance songs with no new spin added to them, leading me to believe that he's just reciting a romance poem he found in a guidebook as a way to capture her attention. The asinine quality of these lyrics mean they get a 0/5.
The Vocals: Oh Christ, the vocals. Remember how I stated Mendes' vocals could get somewhat grating in "Stitches"? Well he pushes it to the absolute limit here, to the point where he also hits some off notes that make his voice crack. However, compared to how the vocals play off the lyrics, that's only the least of my worries. In the verses, Shawn's vocals are very weak and unconvincing, with him sticking to his lower range but without any of the energy that made "Something Big" enjoyable. However, it's the choruses and the bridge that push me to my limit, as instead of coming off as sympathetic like the song intended to, Mendes' vocals reek of fretfulness and unbearable desperation as he sticks to his more grating high vocal range. This reminds me of Simple Plan's wailing attempt at "pop-punk", where they came off as more whiny than sympathetic. These vocals receive a 0.5/5.
Overall Thoughts: In conclusion, I think this song is a trainwreck from top to bottom. When the whiny vocals are combined with the demeaning lyrics and the atrociously mixed production, it makes for one giant shitfest of a song. This is Shawn Mendes' worst single to date, where his lyrical content crosses over to Sam Hunt levels of disgust and WGWAG douchebag territory. If this becomes a bigger hit, it is a huge contender for my Worst Hit Songs of 2016 list. This song as a whole receives a 0.33/5.
I'm Some Random Pop Nerd, giving my thoughts on pop music as constructively as possible. Until next time, peace!
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