Cake by the Ocean

"Cake by the Ocean" is one of pop's more successful exercises in barely-veiled innuendo — the DNCE production wraps a very obvious premise in an enormous fun aesthetic, the bright guitar tones, punching bass, and explosive chorus creating something engineered purely for the feeling of losing inhibitions. Joe Jonas's delivery is loose and slightly chaotic, the voice of someone who is delighted to be exactly where he is. The song's production draws from the funk-pop revival that dominated mid-2010s mainstream, the kind of bass groove that makes sitting still feel like a personal failing. Lyrically the metaphor is transparent to the point of parody, but the song doesn't pretend otherwise — the wink is the point, the knowing silliness part of the package. There's an infectious quality to the chorus that bypasses critical thinking and goes directly to the body, which is precisely what it intends to do. Culturally it arrived at a moment when mainstream pop was leaning heavily into party-anthem formulas, and DNCE executed the formula with genuine energy rather than calculated cynicism. Best experienced at full volume in social situations where inhibitions are the only thing standing between you and dancing.