Tim: Debut single from someone who’s previously stayed behind the scenes doing the writing; it’s a piano ballad, about which I have multiple thoughts.
Tom: That… is indeed a piano ballad. We don’t normally talk about those, because my reaction is likely to be even more ambivalent than usual. Which it is.
Tim: So, as a piano ballad, it’s good. The melody’s good, the vocal’s flawless, and I really do like the “wild enough, wild enough, wild enough” refrain, because it gets the message across without sounding irritatingly repetitive. HOWEVER: this just isn’t, well, wild enough. I get the point of the lyrics – that she is decidedly not a wild person, which is why they can’t be together, and yes the song really really fits it. But you know what’d fit it more? A string section.
Tom: Oh. Yes, you’re absolutely right. Yes, that’s what this is missing.
Tim: A beautiful, rolling understated string section, coming in after the first chorus, adding a little bit more emotion and bringing a lot more to the song. It got me in mind of Mika’s Happy Ending, and how outstanding a song that is, and how it wouldn’t be anywhere near as much without the violins underneath. This track is good, but it could be so much more.