Update: The official video for Hilary's new single arrived this morning. It's slower and less Auto-Tuned than the leak — a blessing to our eardrums.
Original post
Holy Auto-Tune, Hilary. That's the first thing that sprang to mind when we cued up Hilary Duff's new single, "Chasing the Sun." For lack of a better, more magnanimous way to say it, Duff's big return sounds like a Muzak version of Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up the Sun" — on helium. (A music-savvy R29 staffer suggests the leak could be tuned to chipmunk-octaves intentionally. Fingers crossed.)
We're not saying this as haters, by the way. Metamorphosis was in heavy rotation on our Napster playlists in 2003. (Oh, 2003 and Napster, so yesterday.) "Come Clean" is forever tied to our halcyon memories of L.C., Stephen, and Laguna Beach. Let the rain fall down and wake my dreams, though, of better H. Duff music.
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One weather-oriented megahit does not beget another, it seems. "Chasing the Sun," Hilary's eagerly anticipated return to the music game, is — how do we say this politely — not the best. The lyrics sound like those a pre-fab song studio would churn out for unestablished vocalists looking for earworm-y tunes, à la Rebecca Black.
Hilary Duff is 26. She's been married and had a child. She has a little more life experience than a tween whose parents ponied up cash for a happy-go-lucky, instantly forgettable, Kidz Bop tune. She doesn't have to write deeply personal lyrics about her past, but releasing "Chasing the Sun" as her first single doesn't promise fans a lot, emotionally or musically, when the new album drops.
Your fans are waiting with open arms, Hilary. Come clean. (Vulture)