Kiesza – Crave

“EXCITEMENT. Very important in a lyric video, that.”

Tom: I get grumpy at videos that start with photosensitive epilepsy warnings. They knew it was a problem — why didn’t they design the video to be safe from the start instead of just throwing a warning on and calling it a day?

Tim: Because EXCITEMENT. Very important in a lyric video, that.

Tom: Anyway, Kiesza is Canadian, has been going since the mid-oughts, and she’s back after two years off to recover from a car crash. And notably, this track has the same producers as Little Mix had for “Black Magic” and “Shout Out To My Ex”. Which means it should sound…

Tom: …like it came straight out of the 80s?

Tim: Hmm, yes, but also quite Shout Out To My Ex-y, there are recognisable similarities.

Tom: It’s good, don’t get me wrong! The production’s spot on, the vocals are great, the composition is… well, it’s okay, I guess, it’d maybe just scrape being a B-side for Carly Rae Jepsen. That came across as too harsh, but you know what I mean.

Tim: Yeah, I do – it’s no instant classic, though I think Jepsen B-side is way too mean – I can see this getting picked up for radio play. I’d say it’s okay.