The distortion is a little much, but I really do like sticking that bit of the chorus at the beginning so that it feels familiar by the time it comes around in earnest.Įver since “Skyscraper,” Lovato’s signature, production-wise, has been the tactile presence of her breath. The only unmistakably current-day feature of “Heart Attack” is the intro, where we get a filtered taste of the chorus before it’s pitch-modulated in a kind of obligatory nod to a more on-trend kind of production. Lovato uses words like “glow,” “burn,” and “paralyzed” to describe her feelings for the object of her affection, and nearly sings herself hoarse while doing it. I consider that a very important factor for this kind of pop song, and “Heart Attack” is a worthy successor to No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak,” Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know,” and, um, JoJo’s “Leave (Get Out.)” It hits all the right beats, from the sassy verses to the longing pre-chorus (the most melodically feminine part of the song, conveniently paired with the lyric “you make me wanna act like a girl”) to the big, bleeding-heart chorus. When I wrote about Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” a couple months ago, I talked about its usefulness to tween girls who want to sing melodramatically into their hairbrushes as they mourn their first heartbreaks, and how it ultimately seemed like a strangely soulless conduit for that purpose. (I love the sexed-up dance jams, too, but you gotta keep it fresh.) “Heart Attack” continues Lovato’s track record of irony-free, emotionally sharp pop songs that stick in your head for weeks at a time. (Its reigning queen is now Taylor Swift, against whom public opinion has been shifting at the same time Lovato has been quietly stepping up her game.) I still stand by “Give Your Heart a Break” as a solid piece of songwriting, precisely because it feels old-fashioned next to the more sexed-up kind of dance jams that Rihanna and Nicki Minaj have been cranking out.

Over the past year, Demi Lovato has slowly moved into the often-thankless role of the gimmick-free vocal-centric pop star, a significantly less crowded market than it was, say, 10 years ago. YouTube Hit Count: 24,166,387 at time of publication

10 on Billboard’s Hot 100, this weekĬurrent Radio Play Frequency: No.

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