Drake: "Over"

Drake’s new single drops like a neutron marshmallow, a fairly WTF bit of pomp and pompenstance that just. doesn’t. function. as a single, especially not after the Robotech-stomp of “Forever.” I will not preclude the possibility that on a proper record it serves a narrative purpose, but on its own “Over” is a weirdly ornate but intense! poof of snoot and bloat, at once too long and too mean-spirited lyrically and too big and too insubstantial musically. We hear tiny armies of trumpeteers and android choirs and the beat claps to attention for a moment at a time before halting, glib as fuck. There is absolutely no context in which I can imagine playing this track for a large group of people. And while Drake’s flow remains wonderfully solid and direct it starts here at a whine and gets worse as the track goes on, lending the whole thing the feel of a curtain-tearing temper tantrum. It feels clipped gracelessly from something larger, either a desperately myopic synth-studded rap opera or one big budget shit-show of an embarrassment. I may not be thanking you later, Drake, as your new album title insists, but I’ll definitely be getting back to you on this one.