Should Have Been Bigger: Fifth Harmony’s “Sledgehammer”

In this franchise, we look back on songs that deserved a little more love and attention.

Back in the good old days when Fifth Harmony actually had five harmonies, they dropped a massively underrated bop called “Sledgehammer.” After finishing third on The X Factor, the girl group proved that anything can happen by taking the pop world by a storm. They rush-released an EP of bright bubblegum-pop in 2013 before storming back with brassy female-empowerment anthem “BO$$” in 2014. However, the second single from Reflection was even catchier. Co-written by Meghan Trainor and produced by Jonas Jeberg, the track glimmered with potential.

Singing about a crush, the girls compare the beating of their hearts to a pulsing sledgehammer. “I struggle to contain, the love that’s in my veins,” Ally Brooke emphatically sings over a throbbing production that builds as she falls further in love with her boy toy. Each of the ladies deliver lively vocals on the track and come together for an infectious chorus that swirls with bright synths and pulsing beats. Camila Cabello serves vocal runs on the bridge, but the song really allows each of them to shine.

“Sledgehammer” received a simple video treatment that featured the girls in matching white ensembles and jewel-toned gowns as some sexy silhouettes wield sledgehammers in the background. It’s not their sexiest construction-themed visual (that honor, of course, goes to last year’s “Work From Home”), but it’s a joyful and chic reminder of their youthful beginnings. The track became Fifth Harmony’s first to crack the top 40, but its success was dwarfed by the release of follow up single “Worth It.” Revisit the explosive and very underrated track below.

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