"Expectations" is the debut solo single by American singer and songwriter Lauren Jauregui, released on October 24, 2018. It is a guitar-driven R&B song written by Jauregui and produced by Kid Harpoon, about an unresponsive relationship and the assumptions that people have and try to change about them. Jauregui first performed the track in June 2018, as the opening act for Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour in Latin America. "Expectations" received positive reviews from critics who praised Harpoon's production and Jauregui's musicianship. The song's black-and-white music video was creatively directed and co-edited by Jauregui, and portrays two opposing facets of the artist.
Background
"Expectations" is one of the first songs Jauregui wrote while she was in a process of self-exploration and re-evaluation post Fifth Harmony's disbandment. She premiered the track in June 2018 in São Paulo, Brazil, along with two other songs she wrote, as the opening act for Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour in Latin America. Jauregui said the fans' passionate response to the song when she performed it inspired her to release it. Jauregui later said that she was "putting the final touches" to the song. She gave fans a brief preview of her upcoming single on October 1, 2018 with an 18-second snippet of its video. She said of "Expectations" as her debut solo song: "Just the context of it and the mood of it, I feel like is a really great introduction to the world that I'm about to give people."
Composition
Composed in a compound time signature, "Expectations" is a guitar-driven, slow-burning, soulful R&B song. Lyrically, "Expectations" finds Jauregui depicting a relationship state in which her partner does not appear to be responsive. It expresses vulnerable assumptions and the struggle of wanting to change the situation. Jauregui said that the record is an "exploration of when you’re in a relationship with someone and you don’t want to have expectations. But they kind of get in the way, regardless". She wrote the song after experiencing something that made her "upset". She went in the studio the following the day and wrote it in about 30 minutes. She also produced the vocals. Jauregui played with double meaning for the single, simultaneously alluding to expectations on her output post-Fifth Harmony.
Billboard editor Gil Kaufman said that in the slow and sultry song, Jauregui's vocals rise into an "urgent moan" on the "pleading" chorus, and the track's "smoky, late night" mood is amplified by its "ripping" blues guitar solo. Rolling Stones Brittany Spanos described the record as "slow burning". The song has "atmospheric strings and sensual beat", and builds up to an "electrifying" guitar solo, wrote Idolator. Paris Close of iHeartRadio described it as a "pensive number" in which Jauregui "purrs with hope on the bluesy chorus". Harper's Bazaar Erica Gonzales considered "Expectations" a "sultry, stripped down" bluesy guitar record.
Critical reception
Idolator praised the record's instrumentation and "slinky" production, considering the song a "bold moment that is bound to put Jauregui on the right path" as she sounds "utterly at ease and highlights her compelling vocals", delivering "heaps" of personality. Time wrote that Jauregui "makes a soulful statement" in an "R&B mixed with rock 'n' roll" song "that swings and sashays at Jauregui’s deliciously languorous pace" while her lyrical delivery has "plenty of punch". Newsweek called it a "sultry and honest" debut single. Earmilk regarded the song as a proclamation of Jauregui's "ability to stand on her own as both a singer and a songwriter". MTV said the "smoky" song showcases Jauregui's "powerful pipes and marks a clear departure from Fifth Harmony's airy pop material". BBC described the song as "fierce-yet-vulnerable". Harper's Bazaar called the song a "sultry, stripped down departure" and "a strong introduction to Jauregui's next chapter." Stereogum deemed it a "masterclass in tension and release". Uproxx called "Expectations" an "impressive" solo debut in which Jauregui "sounds completely at home" and "more confident and comfortable than ever on her own".