Shortly before the release of her new album, “Chromatica”, Lady GaGa released a single titled “Sour Love”. The single features the Kpop girl band BLACKPINK, a surprise collaboration that many fans were excited about when the tracklisting for “Chromatica” was released. Let’s dive into the song.
Lyrics: C+
“Sour Candy” puts Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK in the place of a person who changes their emotions and behavior erratically. As the song title suggests, sometimes the person is sour and other times they are sweet:
I’m sour candy
So sweet then I get a little angry, yeah
Sour candy, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Not So Tasty:
This is not a song you play for the lyrics. But in the case you did, you’d find the song already begins with the tried concept of someone being a juxtaposition — sweet vs sour, hot vs cold, however you want to put it — that feels generic.
Lady Gaga attempts to add some depth by indicating the state of mind is just the person being honest:
I might be messed up
But I know what’s up
You want a real taste
At least I’m not a fake
But in the same song BLACKPINK’s lyrics trivialize the song with lines such as:
So sweet then I get a little angry, yeah
Sour candy, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m super psycho
Make you crazy when I turn the lights low
So there’s that.
Production: B
“Sour Candy” is a polished song with some elements that make it unique, but also some qualities that make it sound dated.
Tasty:
The short intro before the bass comes in sounds great with the nuanced sounds, and the opening line by BLACKPINK where Jennie sings the title of the song.
The highlight of the song is Lady Gaga’s hook. Her voice fits the tone of the song extremely well and its accentuated further by the contrast to the softer voices of BLACKPINK. And that is another highlight of the song — the vocal contrast between Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK. Similarly to the collaboration, “Rain on Me”, with Ariana Grande where their voices worked well together because of Ariana’s soft tone, the same effect happens here to great results.
Read our review of “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga ft. Ariana Grande here.
Not So Tasty:
With only 2 minutes and 37 seconds, “Sour Candy” is a short song. The short length is a shame, since the song is interesting to listen to and seems to hit its stride right when the song ends.
The beat structure of the chorus while BLACKPINK sings sounds dated. Even though many songs within “Chromatica” intentionally adopt a throwback vibe, such as the lead singles “Stupid Love” and “Rain on Me”, the effect here simply makes the song sound dated.
Replayability: B
“Sour Candy” is a grower that pulls you in after multiple listens, which is not hard to do since the song is so short. The song has a strong personality that leans into the club sound, so that will inform the types of occasions to listen to the song. It also helps that a collaboration between these two artists is unexpected and lends itself to the energy around the song.
Final Grade: B-
“Sour Candy” is a welcome collaboration between Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK. While it will be sure to please club goers, it’s hard not to think that this song could have been released many years ago on a previous Lady Gaga effort.
Color Vibe: Hot Pink
Season Vibe: Summer
Mood Vibe: Going Out, Vibrant
Mocha Quality: B-
Tags: Kpop, Pop
Check out the audio video for “Sour Candy” by Lady Gaga ft. BLACKPINK below.
Watch Lady Gaga interview with Zane Lowe where she talks about working with BLACKPINK here.
