PinkPantheress Says To Hell With Bridges, Insists Songs Needn’t Be Over 2:30
Even though fans are literally begging for R&B to bring back bridges, PinkPantheress feels songs work better when they’re shorter.
In a recent interview for ABC News’ Prime Playlist, the “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” singer admitted that she believes songs don’t need to be longer than two minutes and 30 seconds.
“I was able to experiment and making short songs was just a result of me experimenting. And a song doesn’t need to be longer than 2 minutes 30, in my opinion,” she explained.
The 23-year-old continued, “We don’t need to repeat a verse, we don’t need to have a bridge — we don’t need it! We don’t need a long outro.”
Her sentiments not only riled up fans, but also fellow artists, including Dionne Warwick and Asiahn.
Warwick initially responded to the video clip with a question mark before adding, “I am not ‘getting’ her. Artists are allowed to create their art in any way they choose. However, I do believe a bridge is important.”
Singer-songwriter Asiahn tweeted, “I think this works for songs that are very surface, up tempo, and meant for dancing, raves, stuff like that…. And it’s her opinion. ‘We’ is subjective to people who feel the same as her not the masses. For the record I don’t agree and that’s my business. Ballads need bridges.”
Fans blamed PinkPantheress’ sentiments on social media, with one commenting, “This tiktokfication needs to be banned immediately. Nobody wants this.” Someone else called her “lazy” as another joked, “It took Luther [Vandross] that long to say ‘still in love with me.’”
Others defended the Heaven Knows singer and expressed how this might make sense for her sound.
“Honestly, traditional song structure isn’t necessary for every artist. What PinkPantheress does can be restricted to 2:30 because she accomplishes what she’s going to accomplish in that time. The generality of this statement is where her age comes in. She’s 23,” songwriter Mel Smith tweeted.
PinkPantheress has not responded to the backlash, but her shortest song, “Attracted To You,” is one minute and six seconds long, whereas her longest song, “All My Friends Know (Anz Remix),” is over five minutes long.