Single review: Iconiq - Make it right

With every artist in the game with a fallopian tube releasing a house jam, it's no surprise than the slap head that Avex and time forgot has released a new single...and that it's a house jam soaked in auto-tune, vocoders and more knob twiddling than Spiral could handle in the Mojoverse.

Produced by the man of the moment Hiro, "Make it right" is the funkier twin to "Change myself", which he also produced. The drum patterns are near enough identical, as are many of the sounds used. "Make it right" is more of a grower than an instant shower. So don't be surprised if you hate the shit out of it within the first 30 seconds. Initially the song plays out like the type of song that just about every K-Pop group and J-Pop skank has been releasing over the past year. There is a lack of melody, a lack of true soul and a mindless plod of kicks and the shatter of a hand clap. It's enough to have you drift into a coma. The verses of this song are a redundant mess, but the chorus is so hot that you will eventually forgive them. But only just. Not only do the choruses bring the song to life, but they act as a distinct moment in the song where you finally find the resolve that this now sounds like an Iconiq song, as opposed to a Kumi Koda wannabe, which is the vibe I get from the verses. (It's noteworthy that Hiro has been a notable contributor to Kumi's past few studio albums).

Iconiq's vocals are about as strong as Aretha Franklin's will to stop wearing spaghetti strap dresses. But she has that type of voice which seems to fit everything and get the job done. She lacks the power of Kumi Kehovah, the smoothness of Crystal Kay or the ball shrivelling shriek of Ayumi Hamasaki, and yet she could probably make just about any genre of music work better than all of them. Well...except ballads. But I'm all for her trying. She's managed to do everything else pretty well so far.

"Make it right" isn't one of Iconiq's most memorable singles. In fact, it's one of her worst. Even that "Tokyo lady" mess was better than this. As hot as the chorus is, the song as a whole is pretty forgettable and it won't stick around in your mind because it's too trend driven and Iconiq had set the bar with every single she had released up until this came along. But for the here and how and what it is, it's alright and something new from the girl who went from the Avex darling to having to settle for snapping Instagram pictures of her nails and bottles of wine.

RATING: 6 / 10