As good as Ora's vocal, and the songs composition is, 'Anywhere' seemingly falls victim to the bland 'tick-box' mentality emerging in electro-pop.
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After achieving a summer hit with ‘Your Song’, a top 10 single with Avicii this month, and with her second album impending, Rita Ora‘s latest track, ‘Anywhere’, comes off the back of a successful run. Though it feels untimely being released in October, the track ticks all the necessary commercial boxes. A gripping beat, strong vocals and good light-and-shade make an accomplished track, even if it feels unoriginal against the plethora of female pop releases this year.
Ora’s vocal is nicely controlled in the opening sections that deploy a more stripped-back rhythm, with a catchy clicking, to expose the singer’s tones. Her vocal rifts become a little indulgent but are polished and ensure it does not become one-dimensional. A nice drop then leads into the very constructed electropop beat which works well with the lyrics reflecting on running away in blissful happiness with a new partner (“I know we’ve got to get away/ Someplace where no one knows our name”). This gives the song a sense of joyful innocence which is itself quite infectious.
The only shame is that while the song is well put together, it doesn’t stand out against the market. There’s nothing unique about it and, as a result, I’m not sure it’ll last longer than a few months. This is perhaps more of a comment on the seeming tick-box nature of electro-pop releases at current. They are often good, but – with a few exceptions – all stop each other from being amazing by having no original stand out point. Artists need to be braver and move away from this tick-box mentality. It also weirdly feels more like a summer song with its festival vibe electropop beat. Maybe this will see it do commercially well (we all want the reminisces of upbeat summer), but it does leave it feeling a little out of place with a late-October release.
By no means is this song bad. On the contrary, I like both its construction and Ora’s energetic vocal. But there’s nothing that makes me go “yes, I’ll still be loving this song in a few months time”. For the moment, then, this gets three stars. To achieve higher ratings, future electropop releases are going to need to show more difference. Otherwise, the age of a plethora of overbearing similarity is going to continue to dawn.
‘Anywhere’ is out now via Atlantic Records
