Back in 2019 Dutch dance music duo Showtek released a song called “EDM Sucks,” a tongue-in-cheek jab at the current state of electronic music and an ode to the big room house music that pervaded the festival scene in the 2010’s, which features the lyric, “Let’s take it back to 2014.” Little did they know just how true that sentiment would ring after releasing their first single of 2020, a cringeworthy ear-sore called “The Weekend” that squawks about how we all should party like every day is the weekend—during a global quarantine.
2014 saw Showtek at the top of the electronic dance music sphere. Riding on the coattails of their breakthrough single “Cannonball,” they introduced a fresh sound to the scene, which was highlighted by thunderous, 128BPM four-to-the-floor kick drums and stentorian lead synths that oozed verve and ferocity. Ensuing tracks “Booyah” and “Bad,” among others, dominated the festival circuit for years, helping to define the vibrant vitality of the festival scene at the time and cementing the brothers as one of the world’s most popular dance acts.
Fast-forward to today, when Showtek’s new single “The Weekend” slithered its way into streaming platforms. Pandering to a festival audience that no longer exists, the track is devoid of originality in its lyrics, arrangement, and moth-eaten production. The banality of the sound design, which harkens to a kitschy rip-off of David Guetta’s “Play Hard” (also a kitschy rip-off, of Alice Deejay’s trance classic “Better Off Alone”), is a particularly vexing aspect considering the versatility and expert production prowess they have exhibited over the years.
However, the laziness of the production doesn’t hold a candle to that of its ignominious chorus lyrics, which are shrieked by a screeching Eva Shaw and would make Rebecca Black proud. Not only do they sound like they were sung by a prepubescent middle-schooler, but also written by a prepubescent middle-schooler. “We party on a Tuesday, it’s alright / We party like it’s Friday, ride or die / ‘Cause every day is the weekend / Every day is the weekend,” she cackles with profound lyrical depth. Spree Wilson, who electronic music fans may recognize from his fantastic work on Afrojack’s “The Spark,” also fails to save the song from morbid mediocrity by rapping about stale millennial platitudes, like sliding into DM’s and walking into clubs like a boss. “Got so much drip on me, I swear this weekend I’ll make every girl want to kiss on me,” he croaks. “They hit my DM’s and tell me they history / Can’t go a day without saying they missing me.”
Making matters worse is the tone-deaf nature of “The Weekend.” It arrives during a cataclysmic global pandemic where countless people have lost their jobs due to the impact of COVID-19, waking up every day with an unwavering fear of being unable to feed their families. We do not have the luxury of partying on a Tuesday right now. It’s not “alright,” despite what this song insensitively proposes. What’s also not alright is the fact that an act of Showtek’s size, with such a mammoth platform at their disposal, opts to unleash a clunker like this instead of releasing uplifting music, which we all need more of right now.
Your time will be better spent listening to other songs released this week that strike a more elegant, contemplative, and heartwarming chord, like Cimo Fränkel’s “World Is Waking Up,” Slow Magic’s “Home,” DROELOE’s “I Can’t Wait,” or Geotic’s “Breathtaker.”
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