Making a Scene

Selena Gomez and The Scene has released a new single titled "Bang Bang Bang" and I decided that would be a good place to start as far as music commentary goes. When I listened to this song, I was severely unimpressed by the lack of lyric depth shown in previous songs such as "A Year Without Rain", "Round and Round" or "Who Says" and she seems to be repressing her natural vocal timbre. Her voice seems strained as if she is singing just slightly higher than her optimal pitches.

"Bang Bang Bang" is clearly a rant post-breakup song. Many listeners are suggesting that the song was written glorifying her new interest: Justin Beiber with phrases such as "He looks way better than you," and "He's got more swagger than you do."

Some opinions have voiced that this new single sounds like the Electro-Pop sensation La Roux. Though La Roux may have been an influencing factor in the creation of the music score, I think that the most influential component was simply the resurrection of electronic music. The sound of "Bang Bang Bang" lacks the deeper base tones of much of La Roux's music as well as the complex harmony accompanying Elly Jackson's performances such as "Bulletproof", "I'm Not Your Toy", and, one of my personal favorites, "As if by Magic". Once again, the lyric depth in this song is a main factor contributing to this verdict. "Bang Bang Bang", in my opinion, has the lyric depth of wet pavement after a light rain shower, while the majority of La Roux's music is closer to a 12-feet-deep, Olympic sized swimming pool. The rate of mindless repetition in Selena's song is approximately 89%.

Many artists often write songs not intended to be published, just as a way of letting off steam. This song leads me to believe that one of her producers came across the song on accident, and needed a few more songs to add to the most recent collection before they could release the next album, decided to add it as a filler and then chose to release it as a single to set up for the album before they released the actually impressive songs.

I don't think that this song deserves its current rating of 3rd highest Selena Gomez song on itunes. She has released several which are a much better use of your sense of hearing. Don't let that stop you from occasionally listening to it when its in a playlist of the whole upcoming album, but I wouldn't bother buying it as a single.