Sleigh Bells is making its Twitter beef with Demi Lovato a legal issue for her. As Billboard reports, the band is suing Lovato, accusing her of pilfering bits from its track “Infinity Guitars” for hers, called “Stars.” Back in November 2015, Sleigh Bells tweeted:
Now it looks like Sleigh Bells is focusing on the backhanded part of what they were deeming a backhanded compliment. As Billboard reported at the time, producers Carl Falk and Rami Yacoub denied sampling any material in the song, in a statement via Lovato’s representatives. They, also, curiously absolved Lovato herself of responsibility, “Demi was also not involved with the production,” they said, explaining that “she only wrote top line.” But that didn’t stop attorneys for Sleigh Bells’ Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller from naming all three of them—Falk, Yacoub, and Lovato—in the complaint, which breaks down just how the band is making its case against the pop star.
“A comparison of the two songs reveals that, at the very least, the combination of the hand claps and bass drum, structured as 3 quarter beats and a rest, with the bass drum providing a counter-rhythm to the hand claps, is at least substantially similar in both works,” it reads. “This infringing material repeats throughout the Defendants’ song.” It also notes: “The signal decay and other sonic signatures in each of the songs are comprised of and contain virtually identical content, and analyses of the two songs reveal that they are, at least in part, substantially similar, virtually identical, or identical.”
The document, however, makes no mention of “Riot Rhythm,” only “Infinity Guitars.” Sleigh Bells is also currently prepping a new album due out in November.