Demi Lovato - Fast

The latest wave of the complex musical tide of Demi Lovato’s career sees the singer arrive at electronic music with their latest single, “Fast”. The track is quite a confusing entry into Lovato’s catalog, and doesn’t quite feel right.

The biggest critique I can make of this song is that it sounds like an awkward electronic remix of itself - it feels like a different track chopped up and reassembled over the pulsing 4-on-the-floor beat. This doesn’t feel natural - neither on its own nor especially as a Demi Lovato track. Usually, when an artist experiments or changes direction artistically, there’s some precedent to the switch, or some indication of their past work in the new output. Here, though, the shift into this late 2010s reminiscent club sound feels jarring and inauthentic.

While, of course, lyrics are probably the least important element of this particular kind of music, just how generic the writing is on this track takes away its one last opportunity to feel unique to Demi in some way. “Fast” turns out to be quite soulless, lacking personality; the production is great technically, atmospheric and driven, perfect for a club setting, but it just comes off as hollow. Plus, while it’s well-made, the sound itself of the track feels quite dated, and has some really awkward moments, especially the excessively long stuttering instrumental buildup before the second chorus.

As a song to transition into a new era that’s being labeled as dance-pop, “Fast" feels like a strange choice. It doesn’t really feel special enough to be a proper lead single; nor is it really a dance-pop track, being much closer to EDM and house music. Where Lovato continues with this new direction remains to be seen, but the first step could certainly have been better.

4.5/10