It was a hard choice to decide to review this album. This is simply because Tove Lo is definitely my favorite artist ever; Queen of the Clouds is my favorite album. Thus, I figured that I would be too biased. However, after listening to this album many times, it seems like I am in the right mindset to accurately review it. It certainly has flaws and strengths that I can address through a mostly unbiased lens. I'm going to return to my older format of reviewing for this album, track by track, because it's mostly chronological.
I'd like to address the cover. It's frankly horrible, and I didn't want to really put it on my blog because my parents read it, but, well, I've got to be loyal to her artistic choices. Then again, two of the songs on this album have swear words in the name so this review will be a little bit more NSFW than usual.
The intro interlude, "Light Beams" is rather interesting. It brings back that Queen of the Clouds lingo, but like... twice as raunchy, as she claims that she's the "motherf*cking queen of the disco t*ts". Quite a statement, but, well, she proves it on the next track. The lead single of this album, which is a critical success more than a commercial success, is "Disco T*ts". It combines, unsurprisingly, a disco instrumental, a ton of vocal effects, and rather polarizing lyrics into this bombshell of a song. So much about it is quotable, and the chorus is such a nasty little earworm: "I'm sweat from head to toe / I'm wet through all my clothes / I'm fully charged, nipples are hard, ready to go." I mean, which other popstar is really going to make a song like that? It is also very notable that this is one of her only totally happy songs; there's really no negative undertones in it, it's just about having fun. This change in theme from Tove is very welcome, though I am happy that it's not a permanent change; she doesn't drop her signature raw emotion later on in the album.
"shedontknowbutsheknows" is frankly savage. It's a miniature story of the girlfriend of the guy that Tove is currently with; Tove is the homewrecking antagonist of this story, and she doesn't hold back. She taunts her lover's girlfriend, with lyrics like "She'd rather smile and pretend with you then let go" and the whole second verse, with Tove blaming her lover for dragging her into his relationship in the first place. I love the lyrical surprises, and the downtempo chorus is rather nice.
"shivering gold" is just as interesting as the name sounds like. It's one of those songs that just conjures extremely vivid imagery in your head. The production during the first few choruses is rather weak, but like many Tove Lo songs, it only gets stronger as the track goes on. She really lets her voice shine on this track, but at some points, it can just get to be too much; she actually kind of hurts my ears on the start of the chorus with how loud it gets.
"dont ask dont tell" is rather lackluster compared to the other songs. It's her first attempt at a ballad, but it's just very slow and honestly rather boring... Tove's voice is really nice and different on it, a lot more high and lilting than usual, but it just isn't enough to make this song very replayable for me. It's honestly just forgettable and boring.
"stranger" is not only the best song on the album, it's one of Tove Lo's best songs ever. The production is truly immaculate: it's a beautiful combination of a funk guitar, hard-hitting snares, and Tove's signature roaring synths. This production is showcased, as it should be, in a suitable long intro and even longer outro. "stranger" is some of Tove's best vocal work as well. You can hear the raw emotion and yearning in her voice, with just a hint of desperation. Somehow, she makes some unique yet unwieldy lyrics, like "I am lonely vagabond" work. My favorite part of the song is the total tonal shift in the second verse, from the yearning but "playing it cool" overarching theme of the song, to a few lines of total desperation, as Tove belts out "I wanna be what you want me to be/ I'd go anywhere, no rules I don't care". These desperate, clinging lyrics are a very sudden 180 from the majority of the lyrics, which are the usual self-serving lyrics that Tove specializes in. The raw emotion returns in the outro. I love this song and hope it does well.
And just like that, it's all gone with a shift of album tone, and I love that. "bitches" (and no, I'm not going to bother censoring that) is the last chapter of Light Beams, and it reflects Tove's acceptance that maybe this love will never work, so she goes back to her routine of meaningless sex, and that is glorious. "bitches", as you can probably guess from the title, is her most explicit song by far; it's almost reaching Cupcakke levels of camp. I can't even quote like half of the lyrics, but basically, it's a lesbian sex anthem. It's raunchy, dirty, and contains lines like "dripping in harmony, like fifth", and it's just great. The production feels just as dirty as the lyrics, and Tove sounds absolutely devilish. The only problem with it is that it's just over two minutes long.
LIGHT BEAMS is a really great chapter of Tove's story, with only one bad song. PITCH DARK, unfortunately, is not. The three songs that start Pitch Dark are some of Tove's worst songs ever.
"romantics" is Tove's attempt at trap pop, and it's such a shame that it falls so flat because it really does have potential. The "drop" to this song just feels shoehorned in, Tove's verses don't fit with the tone of the rest of the song, and the trap beat itself just isn't that good. Produced by Lulou, the production utilizes strange vocal cuts that take away from the rest of the song. The worst part by far is the rapper, Daye Jack, that she employed to do this track. His voice sounds weak and immature, his lyrics aren't at all inventive, and his "autotune is fun" part at the end is one of the most cringy things I've heard all year. This is the second time that Tove has collaborated with a rapper, and while I didn't like "Influence" very much, at least Wiz Khalifa brought something new to the table. I would love this song if it had a rapper that actually suited the song, like Travis Scott, on it.
"cycles" is boring and generic. The production is horrible; it's bland and actually turns me off of listening to the song. The lyrics are okay, but nothing exceptional; they detail Tove's routine of love and lust, but that signature emotion is missing. There's just nothing to write about this song. Though I did talk about "romantics" more, this is definitely my least favorite song on the album.
"struggle" is so annoying because it could be amazing, but it's all thrown away. It has some really creative vocoder use, amazing use of imagery in the intro, and those signature Tove Lo explicit lyrics with "f*ck, f*ck, f*ck some sense into me". It's all ruined with the chorus. "The struggle is real / when you don't tell me how you feel". What is that??? She really used an outdated meme as her chorus, and you just can't get past that part of the song. The bridge is so good that it makes up for this at least a little bit, making this song a solid 5.
"9th of october" is marginally better than the previous three songs. It's nothing special, but it's rather sweet. It seems to be mixed kind of badly, which is rather surprising considering how polished Tove's production usually is. It's underwhelming until the end, where it starts to really explode as Tove starts screaming at you. It kind of feels like a knockoff "Timebomb".
"bad days" is pure pop, and that's great. The pre-chorus is reminiscent of cult favorites like Carly Rae Jepsen, and the chorus is one of Tove's best; it's just so smooth and pleasant. It's bright despite the dark theme of obsession, and the lyrics are amazing. "I still remember all the good times / if not, I'll recreate em all" is just so cute and probably one of the best this year. This song seems to be flying under most people's radar, but it's definitely one of my favorites. I just love it so much, it makes me so happy.
"hey you got drugs?" is the real underdog of this album. It's the final track, and just by the name, a lot of people would just set it aside, but it's quite the masterpiece. Like "9th of october", it's one of those songs that constantly builds up, but it does it so much better. The chorus is great from the start; roaring synths complement Tove's desperate voice, as she proclaims that "you won't save the night for me" but at the same time she tells her lover "but I promise for life you can brag about tonight". Tove just builds layer upon layer to add to the song; there's a sudden tonal shift about halfway through, and this is when the song goes from good to amazing. The tonal shift is downtempo, as she lazily asks "hey you got drugs? just need a pick me up... think I've fallen out of my feelings" This eventually is played on a loop throughout the chorus, adding this beautiful layer of complexity to the instrumental. The outro is long but it's the best crescendo I can ask for, with some of Tove's best vocals. In a way, this is the crescendo to all of the Lady Wood saga. It's so hard to put the feeling that this song gives me into words, but THIS song is what shows me that even though there are a lot of bad moments on the album, Tove definitely still has her raw emotion intact.
I didn't talk enough about the structural portion of the album because it's fairly self explanatory, but I think it should definitely be noted that "hey you got drugs?" could very well be the predecessor to the drugged up intro to Lady Wood, "Influence". That's pretty amazing and showcases how this could all truly be a cycle...
This is my least favorite Tove Lo album, but reviewing it has opened new perspectives to me about Blue Lips. This album isn't bad by any means, just not quite as good as I hoped. I still love Tove Lo; she's still my favorite artist, and I cannot wait to see the short films for these albums.
Final Verdict:
75/100
Favorite Tracks: stranger, hey you got drugs?, bad days
Least Favorite Tracks: cycles, dont ask dont tell, romantics
Here's a little side project that I've done: a tier list for Tove Lo songs. I'm posting it just to show how invested I am in Tove :) Feel free to discuss it in the comments!
My Tove Lo Tiers
S+ True Disaster, Not On Drugs, Habits (Stay High), stranger
S Talking Body, Thousand Miles, Scream My Name, hey you got drugs?
S- Vibes, Imaginary Friend, bad days, bitches
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A+ My Gun, Paradise, Flashes, Got Love, This Time Around, Keep it Simple, disco tits
A Crave, Timebomb, Lady Wood, Run On Love (original),
A- Moments, The Way That I Am, Out of Mind, Not Made For This World, Don't Talk About It, shedontknowbutsheknows, shivering gold
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B+ Lies in the Dark, Over, Cool Girl, WTF Love Is, Scars, 9th of october
B Love Ballad, Influence (ft. Wiz Khalifa), dont ask dont tell,
B- Like Em Young, Run On Love (QOTC edit), romantics, struggle
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C+
C Heroes (We Could Be)
C- cycles
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D+
D
D- Habits (Hippie Sabotage Remix)
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