Veteran pop cover act
Kidz Bop Kids launch their 2016 campaign with their 31st collection of songs. Still touting their "sung by kids for kids" slogan, the young singers take on big contemporary pop hits by
Taylor Swift ("Wildest Dreams"),
Meghan Trainor ("Like I'm Gonna Lose You"), and
Demi Lovato ("Confident"), among others. As on all the
Kidz Bop releases, the backing tracks are uber-tight and
the Kids' vocals sound so faithful to the original performances that they nearly sound like adults themselves. It's a bit hard to shake the creepiness of 12- and 13-year-olds cooing to
Drake's slinky "Hotline Bling," but the more youthfully innocent selections fare well enough. ~ Timothy Monger