Review of: 'Sick Boy' by The Chainsmokers

I am very aware that covering this album is essentially pointless, especially considering that it's been months since it was officially released, and the duo have seemed to have slipped out of the public eye. A critically panned album with 'Memories... Do Not Open' probably didn't help that, but overall I was never a huge fan of the group to begin with, and therefore I have no issue with them slipping out of the public consciousness. In fact, I was actually going into this album with a fair bit of hope that some time outside of the spotlight could give the group an opportunity to refine their sound into something more interesting; I was not expecting this to happen, but I am fascinated by the potential of an album like this. I was looking forward to seeing The Chainsmokers pick themselves up after a crazy year in 2016, an album that was not received, and further refine their image, music and songwriting. So, did 'Sick Boy' deliver?


No. Not even the benefit of lowered expectations could save an album that feels limp and underweight instrumentally, and frail and really quite obnoxious and self obsessed at points from being thuddingly mediocre at best, and blindingly offensive at worst. And there is one fundamental issue that runs through the album in its entirety. The album demands that I sympathise with Chainsmokers frontman Andrew Taggart...and I don't. This is coming from the same guy who spent 2016 as on of the most successful artists with a net worth of $45.5 million, pretty much cultivated all in that one year alone, and yet over and over again on this album Taggart demands that I sympathise with him because I could not possibly know the pains of being the centre of attention in the music industry. Ugh.


This isn't just on one song either, it's a crucial thematic component that runs across the entire album. 'Everybody Hates Me' is easily the most direct example which shows the duo mindlessly wallowing in the drama of knowing that everyone hates them when they walk into a club, but 'Sick Boy' might be even worse in its attempts to establish some east coast - west coast conflict in its verses, only to backpedal away from any conflict outside of Taggart's personal struggles that, as I've already established, I have no interest in hearing with lines like 'how many likes is my life worth?'. Yes. This is the level of lyrical intellect we are getting here.


But the worst example by far is 'You Owe Me' in which Taggart spends the chorus downright insulting his audience by insisting that while they might be suffering with mental health issues, whatever they're suffering through could not possibly compare to the pressures that he has to endure within the music industry. In other words, looking down in your audience in the most obnoxious way possible, without anything in the way of self aware commentary that could make it tolerable. The kind of baffling display of incompetent songwriting that is no doubt this album at its worst.


But it's not like the production is elevating the mediocre songwriting that turns up on the majority of this album. From the utter waste of the otherwise talented Kelsea Ballerini on 'This Feeling', to Winona Oak doing her best Julia Michaels impression on 'Hope' with strikingly similar vocal production to her song 'I Miss You', to Emily Warren being unimpressive and generally uncharismatic on 'Side Effects', even if the tight bass groove on that song has a surprising amount of bite to it, and I do like that song.


But between songs that feel cold and hollow like 'This Feeling', no the kind of things you want to be associating with a song about the feeling of being in love with a drop that sounds very recycled, songs like 'Sirens' that sounds like a Skrillex reject, and 'Sick Boy' and 'You Owe Me' that sound melodramatic in their attempts to cultivate some smoky atmosphere that neither song effectively pulls off, mainly because the lyrics are self indulgent and pointless.


And that pretty much sums it up. Not an artistic advancement, but a decline into pointless melodrama that was not for me whatsoever.


2 / 5


Best Songs: 'Side Effects', 'This Feeling'


Worst Songs: 'You Owe Me', 'Sirens'

Review of: 'The Pains Of Growing' by Alessia Cara

I thought I knew exactly what I was going to get with this. Alessia Cara's biggest hits like 'Here', and the track with Logic and Khalid '1-800-273-8255' have always dabbled in subject matter that showed her as a bit of an outsider in modern pop. She had the same lumbering, uninteresting production (even if 'I'm Yours' still totally holds up as a great song) that plagued songs like her hit 'Scars To Your Beautiful', but was able to bring a fair amount of nuance to the roles she played within her songs. 'Here' framed her as the antisocial pessimist at a party they really did not want to go to, and '1-800-273-8255' had her playing the role of the call taker as Logic's character contemplates suicide in the first verse. There was clearly something interesting to her song writing style that appealed to me, to the extent that I was fairly excited to cover this album.

Furthermore, and I know I've said this an awful lot over the course of these reviews, but the album also seems like it would be thematically made for me given its title and the stage I'm at in my life. I was looking forward to a refreshing pop album that would really work for me. A lot of this relies on whether or not the production that Cara has behind her can properly back her up like it does so well on 'I'm Yours' on that debut album. So, with all that in mind, how is Alessia Cara's 'The Pains Of Growing'?

This album really shed light on one thing for me; Alessia Cara is too good a pop songwriter to be wasted on production that she gets on the majority of this album. Make no mistake, 'The Pains Of Growing' is indeed a very good album, but lacking that final punch to carry it into greatness, and in order to explain why this is, we need to start by discussing the instrumentation and production, easily the most inconsistent element of this album, and I wouldn't say it was bad more that it was a bit boring and uninspired with the biggest offender being the snooze fest 'A Little More'. The album also doesn't precisely start with it's best cuts either. I'm a bit more forgiving of the slightly stiffer tracks like the lumbering opener 'Growing Pains' thanks to the swampy swell of the bass that gives that song a unique impact that is not really translated anywhere else on the album, but the stripped back production approach on 'Not Today' and especially 'I Don't Want To' might be melodic, but the furthest thing from interesting and do nothing to elevate Cara's expressive song writing. You could easily throw 'Wherever I Live' and 'Out Of Love' into this category too, but the song writing on those songs (and we'll discus this later) is breath-taking.

But if you're looking for the production to bring any kind of intensity to Cara's commentary, you might as well just give up now. The closest you're going to get is the legitimately great 'Nintendo Game' which is easily the most intricate and textured songs here, not to mention catchy.

But the biggest offender on this album is undoubtedly 'Trust My Lonely', where, outside of a stiff drum machine, all you get is a bleeping melody and some distant flutters of synth. A song that not even Cara's song writing can elevate.

But now let's get to that song writing, and I'll say this for Alessia Cara, she certainly was thorough in her deconstruction of what it means to grow up. From not wanting to let the guy go 'I Don't Want To' and 'A Little More', to questioning her personal identity on so many songs here. Take 'Wherever I Live' for instance, a song simple song where Cara discusses her sense of place with the kind of unique charm that made me like her work in the first place. 'Out Of Love' is an equally simple song as Cara hopelessly reminisces over a failed relationship wondering helplessly when it all went wrong. Simple in concept, but gorgeous in it's execution and song writing.

'Nintendo Game' is equally strong in its song writing, taking a uniquely modern approach to explaining a relationship that works exceptionally well in a present day context discussing young love written by someone that understands that context.

'7 Days' might be even better in it's contemplation of whether or not a God would look down on Earth and be proud of what they did in creating us, all crafted to fit into a pop context whilst still carrying a considerable punch.

But that leaves is with 'Easier Said', probably the best song on the album. The line 'Healing and patience are lovers / Don't place the blame on your heart just to shut 'em up' might be the best line I heard in pop in 2018, especially coming out of an album so driven by it's desire to understand what it means to grow up, and everything that comes with that, whether that be questioning your faith, your place, or anything else. Beautiful song.

To conclude, this is an album that I want to love, but ultimately can't due to inconsistent production. There are some gems, though.

3.5 / 5

Best Songs: 'Easier Said', '7 Days', 'Nintendo Game', 'Wherever I Live', 'Out Of Love'

Worst Songs: 'Trust My Lonely'