From one verse to the next, there’s not a stitch of inauthenticity for us to look past in the new single “Hurt Me” from Taylor Colson – if anything, there are so many raw lyrical barbs being thrown in our direction that trying to evade them becomes next to impossible by the completion of the first stanza. Colson delivers an emotional performance for the ages in this track, but when compared side by side with the other elements here, there’s no deeming the vocal the lone reason to listen to “Hurt Me” this summer – it’s simply too multidimensional a tune.
URL: https://www.taylorcolsonmusic.com/
SMART URL: http://massmix.co/taylorcolson
The keys in the background here are stoic and colorless, but they’re backed by a synthetic bassline component that is almost fluorescent, balancing out the aesthetics while adding a uniquely experimental finish to the big picture. Some might look at the conceptualism in “Hurt Me” as being a little over the top for what Colson actually needed to make a statement with her melodies, but to me, it fits her level of ambition just fine. There’s something wrong with a media that challenges a woman of her pedigree to “stay in her lane,” and for me, her attitude is exactly what we need in pop music right now.
Everything in this track is structured off of the vocal’s control of the master narrative in the lyrics, but it’s important to distinguish this content from any of the verse-centric pop to have climbed the charts in the last few months. Just because Taylor Colson doesn’t mind putting some of the weight on her words when it fits in well with the moodiness of a melody doesn’t make her the kind of cheap, low-value indie artist that depends on a big synthetic poeticism to make their point. She’s the opposite, and if that wasn’t known prior to now, it will be as “Hurt Me” finds a home on college radio.
I-HEART RADIO: https://www.iheart.com/artist/taylor-colson-956248/?autoplay=true
The percussion in the mix contributes a lot of tension to the back half of the chorus’ harmony, and I think it’s partly what makes the climax extend as long as it does as the hook fades into the main riffing in the song. Keeping us engaged is the name of the game in this genre of music, and for Colson, she’s not willing to limit herself to singular-minded weaponry in waging her war on mainstream boredoms in “Hurt Me” (an act that deserves quite a bit of commendation from both critics and fans alike).
I’m probably not the only person who will tell you so, but if you’re the type of pop fan that lives and dies by the emotionally-charged balladry of the genre’s most skilled voices, Taylor Colson is an artist that needs to be front and center on your radar in 2020. “Hurt Me” has the look and feel of an introduction to her sound, and for all intents and purposes, I think it’s going to pave the way for a long and successful career in the years still to come.
Jodi Maxbury