Evan Sawdey: Those looped drums on the opening sound straight out of ’90s rock-based electronic music, but once that melody hits and those synths wheeze, holy hell are we on to something special. Even with too-worn lines about minimum wage making you a slave, Rukhsana Merrise’s new single “Money” is something to behold, moving beyond the warped-acoustic beauty of her Soundcloud-released September Songs EP from 2014 and showing a pop production prowess that is radio-ready and engaging throughout. Killer, massive hooks like these don’t come out every day, much less do you come across a song that has soft-loud dynamics down so perfectly that the first thing you want to do after listening to it again. There’s very much a throwback vibe for those who remember the better parts of the late ’90s UK charts, but for everyone else, this is just a treat, and one of the best singles to come out this year. [9/10]
Pryor Stroud: Propelled by spry acoustic guitar, cliff-scaling atmospherics, and West-London singer Rukhsana Merrise’s athletic phrasing, “Money” is an anthemic pop tune of sprawling ambition. Merrise crashes through notes unshaken — her will to forge on, in fact, grows throughout the track — and the richly detailed production gives her plenty of room to flex her natural vocal ability. [7/10]
Chris Ingalls: The combination of exotic influences and a modern Western rock sound is nothing new; ask Cornershop or M.I.A. Merrise doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but she’s doing it really well. Keening keyboard riffs and both electric and acoustic guitars carry the song along and the vocals are powerful with strong, hard-to-ignore hooks. This is the sound of an artist worth watching. [8/10]
Emmanuel Elone: “Money” is probably one of the only rock songs that’s centered around its percussion more than it’s guitar. Though the acoustic guitar strums are nicely textured, it’s the heavy, throbbing drums that fills out the song and makes it amazing instrumentally. Moreover, Merrise’s singing are sweet yet powerful as she shows off her vocal chops. Overall, “Money” is a great pop and alt-rock track that makes up for its simplistic structure with some excellent performances. [7/10]
Chad Miller: Pretty fun track with the occasional Morisette-esque vocals. Something that doesn’t really seem to add up here is that the vocals and the music in the verses just don’t seem to match in terms of energy. The music seems much more relaxed than the vocals are. It seems odd for the music to be so subdued after the cool alien sound buildup in the intro. [7/10]
SCORE: 7.60