Washed-Down Hardstyle: Da Tweekaz and R3HAB’s “My Girl” Fails to Impress
• Usual Da Tweekaz sound, but softer and predictable
• Vocal is uninspiring and annoying
• Lacks the freshness of their previous work
Once again, we have a R3HAB collaboration, and once again, Da Tweekaz venture into the more mainstream side of Hardstyle following the successful “Lambada” with Tony Junior and “Wasabi” with Blasterjaxx. As one of my favorite Hardstyle artists, I sighed and delved into this Tomorrowland Music release for the sake of review.
The label perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the Tomorrowland hosts, DV&LM: lots of cool, shiny collaborations, but the essence, the innovation, and the personality often feel flat. “My Girl” is a classic example of a “safe,” washed-out Hardstyle release that doesn’t bring anything remotely new to the table. While this approach works for introducing harder vibes to a mainstream audience, Da Tweekaz typically manage to inject something fresh into their releases, whether through Disney covers that are blatantly mainstream or the distinctive kicks and growls in their past collaborations. As always, R3HAB’s contribution feels insubstantial.
The melody, pattern, and kicks bear the usual Da Tweekaz signatures, albeit watered down in power. The only major difference is the high-pitched vocal, which I find particularly annoying. The dull lyrics make me wish for an instrumental version. It’s ironically bad, given that Hardstyle usually favors very low-pitched vocals.
Ultimately, the release isn’t terrible. The rhythm is enjoyable, and the final seconds of the drop attempt to add the spicy twist I was hoping for. It’s clear a specific direction was given, and the artists did what they could within those constraints.
On one hand, I’m pleased to see Hardstyle gaining mainstream acceptance, but on the other hand, releases like “My Girl” are very basic and safe, missing the true essence of the genre. I recommend it only if you’ve never heard of Da Tweekaz (a shame!) and are curious about the harder spectrum of EDM. Otherwise, this will likely feel boring.
