Music Review: Zendaya "Replay"

Zendaya

Replay

Album: Zendaya

Year: 2013

     Zendaya’s boyfriend voice is like music to her in the stuttering “Replay.”

       Fuzzy beats start the single, setting a sleepy tone. His eyes have creased and his voice dropped an octave as he answers her friend’s question about his job. Whenever he explains something, he adopts a serious tone. He speaks with such authority and she is mesmerized, ready to follow him anywhere. (“ Make it stop/Sound so good I just can't take no more/Turn it down, turn it up/I don't know, I don't know (know)/But don't stop, don't move/Just keep it there (right there)/Keep it right there, keep it right there.”)

         In the pre-chorus, she could record him talking about mundane things and put it in her iPod. (“I wanna put you on repeat, play you everywhere I go,everywhere I go, play you everywhere I go/Put you on repeat, play you everywhere I go, everywhere I go, play you everywhere I go.”)

        In the chorus, she wants to hear the conversation over and over again. (“Wanna put this song on replay/I can listen to it all day/I can listen to you all day/Hear you all day/Wanna put this song on replay/We can start all over again and again, yeah/Wanna put this song on replay.”)

          He voice changes into a higher pitch as he laughs. She wishes she could sit alongside him at his work and hear him on the phone with clients.  (“Don't stop/Turn it on, turn it up, make it louder/I don't want to miss a single thing/I wanna hear every melody/Beating/Beating so loud, you'd can feel it/Beating, beating, beating/Beating for you.”)

         The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

         As he speaks, she forgets where she is and what she has to do. (“Feel it all, Feel it all crashing down/I'm so lost, I'm so lost in your sound/Yeah, put this song on replay (put this song on) on replay/Listen to you all day, to you all day!”)

             The chorus is sung again to end the single.

         Zendaya’s smooth vocals are held back by the lumbering arrangement, coating it garish flourishes. It causes her to slip and walk on her tiptoes, slowing her down at certain parts. She has an excellent range and the potential to become a major star.

         The skeletal “Replay” lyrics are sticking out, in dire need of imagination.