Tuesday, August 16, 2011

"Who's Laughing Now" by Jessie J

The J stands for Jaws

"Who's Laughing Now" is Jessie J's take on the "told you so" song, a stab at all of the people who have attempted to realign themselves with her since her big break. Musically, it has some good moments and serves as a step towards establishing a style for Jessie J that is uniquely her own. There is, however, one big problem with the track: it's called "Who's Laughing Now", and there's nothing funny about it.

How about now?

The song echoes the sentiment of songs like the All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" or Taylor Swift's "Mean", but without the slightest hint of the sense of humor that those songs display. Jessie J comes across as a bitter success story unable to let go of or, ironically, laugh at the problems she had "fitting in" as a kid.

Musically, there are some good things going on here. Jessie J is on her way to combining hip-hop, pop, and her own fondness for excessively melismatic singing into her own signature style. Additionally, Jessie J scores points for the reharmonization during the final prechorus, which is tasteful.

On the whole, the song is very aggressive, and very poppy. It would be nice to see Jessie J try to write a more thoughtful and/or reflective song in the future, but, based on this song, that doesn't seem to be the way she's headed.

This is your future, Jessie J!