22 May 2014
The last time we had a high-profile copyright claim at number one in Ireland, with ‘Blurred Lines’, the song was problematic and the ruling was controversial. Thankfully, ‘Stay With Me’ as a song is an improvement in terms of quality and taste, while the inadvertent similarity of its chorus hook to that of Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’ was clear enough for the matter to be settled relatively painlessly, with both parties saying it was a coincidence.
‘Stay With Me’ aims for something more tumultuous: heartache, crooning, gospel choir. It’s a familiar post-X-Factor confection in that regard. Though I prefer their occasional up-tempo electro-pop hits, and the lack of vocal histrionics may be just a serendipitous absence of this weapon from their arsenal, Smith does this sort of tremulous ballad capably. If ‘Stay With Me’ doesn’t particularly fire me up, neither can I say I dislike it.
Also, both singer and song represent a welcome improvement on the Thicke worldview. Look how far we all came in the year after ‘Blurred Lines’; it’d be a shame if we regressed, eh? Let’s not back down.
