Hackney-born musician and producer Labrinth kicked off the run-up to his debut album today (January 30th) as he debuted his third single ‘Last Time’ on UK radio early this morning. A lyric video has since been uploaded to YouTube, and the single will be officially released on March 11th, a week before the album (entitled Electronic Earth) hits stores.
‘Last Time’ marks a notable departure from Labrinth’s previous hits ‘Let the Sun Shine’ and ‘Earthquake’, although is definitely more akin to the former. Built around a fresh and modern-sounding electronic melody, in ‘Last Time’ the Tinie Tempah collaborator sings about his travels around the world, name-dropping Tokyo, Cairo, Berlin and Paris in the first four lines. The notable chorus “One moment to another/A world to be discovered/And now it’s my turn to fly/Let this be the last time I say goodbye” is memorable and soulful, with the vocals dipping delicately into falsetto register at points.
Fans have been quick to (inevitably) compare the song to Lab’s previous hit ‘Earthquake’, which reached number two on the UK Singles Chart back in November and was the second highest-selling number two of the year. Early reaction has thus been mixed, with some commentators vocal about the track’s inferiority to ‘Earthquake’, and while this is probably true it would be unfair to slate ‘Last Time’ as it is a solid song. The lyrics are questionable and cheesy, but some of the melodies in the song are brilliant and Lab’s performance (Auto-Tuned though it is…) breeds confidence in the upcoming album.
You can watch the official lyric video for the song here.
Rating: 7/10
2 Comments
I just can’t handle the amount of auto-tune in this. Earthquake showed that wasn’t all necessary. Seems like a step back.
The amount of Auto-Tune seems to be a common complaint, but I think it’s obvious that he’s done it as a technique, not to correct his vocals, and I think that makes it good. It sounds cool, IMO.