Single Review: Rita Ora – ‘Poison’

Let’s cut straight to the chase: Rita Ora is one of the best pop stars we have at the moment. Without ever sacrificing her integrity, intelligence or style, she crafts songs that have true appeal. She’s a hit-smith with clout and energy, and although her tunes belong firmly in the realm of the mainstream, they’re never overproduced or generic. With Poison Ora has turned out another hook driven masterpiece that genuinely connects with its audience.

Although lines like ‘I picked my poison and it’s you’ might not be particularly original, Ora sings them in a way that makes them matter. Her voice is polished, but it’s never cold or calculated: she knows when to hit the notes with all the precision of a surgeon, but she also knows when to let things get a little rougher too.

Ora’s strength has always lain within her choruses, and the melodic centre of Poison is as strong as her very best work. The track’s centrepiece is infectious and edgy, matching as it does a genuine sense of euphoria with an ever so slightly dark edge – Ora is after all, singing about a relationship that might not be toxic, but is certainly troubled.

Poison sits as another chevron on Ora’s decorated sleeve: she is a genuinely combative, genuinely brilliant artist. Commercial pop needs her presence the way a broken arm needs a sling.

Joseph Earp