If it weren’t for Jamie’s sheer force of personality and natural charisma keeping things afloat, this rather formulaic fare would certainly drown in the bluesy mire of its own clichés.
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4
‘Not Gonna Break Me’ starts out well enough, with a solid intro that clearly states its claim; a subtly multi-layered texture of piano, synth, guitar, and muffled foot-stompy, hand-clappy samples hinting at the carnage to come. The texture then builds with a few staple additions that have never failed Mr. Commons in the past, and they certainly don’t here: swampy slide-guitar, gospel choir vocals, and a ‘We Will Rock You’-esque stomp-clap-repeat. It’s a tad predictable, but there’s enough interest to allay fears of the been-there-heard-that syndrome setting in. At any rate our expectations are confirmed. We’re in for a blood-curdling, fist-pumping, psych-out war cry.
To a certain extent it delivers that, albeit in a somewhat indifference-inducing manner. Once we understand that our protagonist will – under no circumstances – be broken down by his vaguely-sketched opponent, we’re left feeling more than a little bored by both the dogged insistence of said message and the song’s stubborn refusal to develop narratively, and musically, thereafter.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like it, and no doubt when we hear it as an accompaniment to sun-drenched BBC images of lithe Olympian athletes running in slo-mo its rousing, anthemic quality will enhance them no end. Yet for me mere accompaniment it remains, without the strength of character or individuality to stand on its own two crow’s-feet.
‘Not Gonna Break Me’ is out now via KIDinaKORNER and Interscope Records
