New York based Lachi is not one to be told what she can and cannot do; from being born legally blind to collaborations on club bangers with artists such as Snoop Dogg, and Styles P, this feisty lady has already proven that she truly is in this game to win it. But does her latest single sink, or swim?
“What I Want” starts the song off with a miss, using the extremely overused trope of steel drum instrumentation to set a tropical atmosphere. Refrain from turning that dial though, because there are some very interesting musical facets if you are willing to listen on and dig a little deeper. The flutes in the chorus for example: while at first they sound quite chaotic and cacophonic, by the time it comes around for a second time, its strangely moulded hooks will be wrapping themselves around your cerebellum. There is an excitement to the feeling that the music could fall off the preverbal track at any time. It never does of course, and the rest of the track cruises along, never having a beat step too much out of line. The contrast works a treat.
Lachi’s vocal delivery soars with some very interesting melodies, and the lyrics are delivered with a confidence indicative of the subject matter: “The track was inspired by the new wave of women taking charge and kicking ass across the nation…The culture of holding women to some high pin-up standard is now on the out. It's high time for any Her to walk into a bar and declare what she wants without the peril of itch-bay stigma."
Simply put the lyrics are imbued with girl power, but girl power alone doesn’t distinguish them from any of the other millions of tracks about getting laid which saturate the industry. The lyrics are serviceable, but they have been sung and heard a million times before.
A final nitpick: There are some parts where Lachi’s vocals almost sound like she has a lisp. It could be a deliberate stylistic choice, or a vocal De-esser which was set incorrectly. Either way, it’s distracting, and breaks ones emotional immersion in the music.
Lachi’s newest hit is almost there. It’s much closer to fresh than it is to foul but Lachi needs to “level up” one more time before she will get to where she is going.
Listen to "What I Want" here: https://ffm.to/listenwhatiwant