It begins with what sounds like a military air-raid siren before a massive beat begins stomping all over the place like it’s a lost Ice Cube track from 1991. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a new hip-hop track. But wait — she actually does kind of rap this song, sounding like a cross between Princess Superstar and Ke$ha. Suffice to say that she sounds very little like the Natalia Kills who brought us “Mirrors” and “Zombie.” That said, I think most of us sensed that there was something darker lurking in Natalia’s head than what we heard on her debut album Perfectionist. It’s like she had to pull back a punch or two in order to get her album released. Now, the gloves are off and she’s ready for a brutal death match. “That girl is a problem, girl is a problem, girl is a problem, problem, problem” she sings over and over. Sometimes she simply speaks those same lyrics, her voice blaring and distorted. (There’s also a deep, distorted, male voice that occasionally says, “That girl is a god-damn problem.”) Another lyric: “We’re hell raising and we don’t need saving because there’s no salvation for a bad girl.” Musically and lyrically, it resembles Crystal Castles more than anything Natalia has done previously.
To be honest, I did not like this track the first couple of times I listened to it. And when I started liking it, it still took a few more listens to really grow on me. But it’s quite a treat if you give it the time. Better to warm up to a forward-thinking pop song that breaks the mold than listen to the new album by so and so that sounds just like so and so’s previous album.
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