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'
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