It's her second project, after her debut EP Bubblebath, containing "Lowlife" and "Money", both extremely good pop songs. Poppy has been signed to Diplo's label, Mad Decent. In my book, that means that Poppy has reached the "big leagues"; she's not an independent artist anymore like she was on Bubblebath. However, this really does not seem to have any effect on her music. It's still quirky, even more so than before.
There are some major standouts on this album. The first "real" single, "Interweb", has a really mystical feel with some great production. The whole song is downtempo, but it showcases her personality well. The vocalizations and the breathing in the last chorus are cute, even though the lyrics are iffy sometimes; the chorus of "I caught you in my interweb/ I caught you in my internet / well, maybe I'm a spider / or maybe I'm a fisherman" is charming, but the opening lines of "I forgot what my password is / maybe it's password one two three" is straight up horrible and is just trying too hard to fit her viral persona into the song.
"Software Upgrade" is one of my favorite songs off of the album. It makes use of alliteration to deliver one of the most fun pre-choruses I've heard in a while. The production is bright and charmingly retro. However, it does contain the rather problematic line of "You never make me any food and you are never in the mood / so tell me baby are you gay?". Other than that, it doesn't really stack on the campiness like some of the other songs do, and it's something that I can definitely listen to in my spare time; it's a great mix of Poppy's fun side and her weird side.
The production on this album is, for the most part, drastically different than Poppy's previous project. It's all very electronic, with some techno influences and a ton of computer sounds. "I'm Poppy", the lead single and first track, perfectly set that tone. I'm going to repost my analysis from when the song came out because I don't really think that I can say it any better:
The lyrics seem shallow to people who don't regularly watch Poppy, but they really make sense with how overly representative Poppy is supposed to be with pop culture. With all of the meaning out of the way, how is the song sonically? Great, in my opinion. From those signature NES-sounding synths to that complicated drumline, the production is great. The "drop" after the "P O P P Y I'M POPPY" line is absolutely amazing and came completely out of nowhere. I'm not sure what to call that instrument, but I love it. Poppy's voice in the verses is really nice, with a methodical high-high-low structure that sounds good. My biggest issue robotic voice because even though it makes sense thematically, it's too much of a plot point of the song; I think it should be limited to like 5 words before the chorus. It's quite the earworm and I'm very pleased with it.
I have a lot of respect for songs that showcase Poppy's character this vividly. However, this doesn't always work. "Bleach Blonde Baby" has awkward lyrics, and just seems overly shallow without really displaying Poppy's persona. It's just "I have fashion!". It's not particularly fun to listen to, and the lyrics just annoy me.
"My Style" has a similar concept to "Bleach Blonde Baby". People not familiar with Poppy will be utterly confused when listening to it. It features "Charlotte", who is simply a text to speech reader that Poppy uses in her videos. The lyrics are as bizarre as ever, but they seem more malevolent than previous songs, as Poppy promises to break your neck and to start a cult. Mostly, this song is just lost potential. Other than Charlotte, it's very nice to listen to, but it could signal a tone shift for the album that never really happens.
Poppy takes a few more influences on this album. "Let's Make a Video" sounds exactly like a generic anime intro, and "Moshi Moshi" is a rather cute bubblegum pop song that for some reason she included Japanese in. Unfortunately, she dropped the reggae influences from "Lowlife" for this album.
In my opinion, she is trying to make another point with the diverse range of influences on this album. She's trying to say that pop music is fickle; just one genre will not always guarantee a hit, and pop is not confined to one set of influences. I agree with this message, but I feel like she could've said it in a far more interesting manner.
"Pop Music" is a very introspective acoustic track about the current state of pop music and how performing it feels like. It's very self-aware, and though it's not my favorite song on the album sonically, the lyrical content is top notch for Poppy. It feeds more into the big "poppy is part of the Illuminati" theory, with lines like "Pop is on the radio / who decides we'll never know / somebody told me I should follow where the money goes". It leaves the listener questioning just how "pure" Poppy and the pop culture she stands for really is is.
As a whole, Poppy.Computer is not very cohesive. They all feature Poppy's light and youthful voice and strange themes, but those are the only constants. I appreciate when albums take a variety of approaches, but Poppy tries too hard to fit every possible theme. This album is just hard to listen to repeatedly, though there are certainly standouts. People not familiar with Poppy's persona may feel lost and confused. It certainly doesn't hold up to Bubblebath, but I still have hope for Poppy.
Final Verdict:
62/100
Favorite Tracks: I'm Poppy, Software Upgrade, Interweb
Least Favorite Tracks: Bleach Blonde Baby
Comments
Post a Comment