Album: Leave It Beautiful
Artist: Astrid S
Release Date: October 16, 2020
Genre: Electronic Pop
Length: 0:28:30
Label: Universal Records
Producer: Astrid S/Jack & Coke/Fred Ball/A Strut
Norway created a BOP-star...
The highly anticipated debut album by Norwegian Astrid S, Leave It Beautiful peaked at #2 on the VG-lista charts in Norway.
"Marilyn Monroe" is the first track on the album and in the beginning features Astrid S showing her popstar voice, singing about empowerment, being able to be anyone you want to be. The song focuses on an ominous drone in the beginning only to erupt into a dance beat reminiscent of 80s synthpop. The heavy heart-pounding bass is contained only by her catchy lyrics and voice singing over the volcanic bass.
The second track on the album "Can't Forget" is a typical sounding pop song that is worthy to get stuck in your head after listening to it for the first time. The beat behind her voice features a more hip-hop rhythm and melody while still complimenting her voice flawlessly. Adopting bits in the track that even make her sound like a hip-hop artist instead of a Norwegian popstar is an interesting dynamic that you don't see a lot in pop music today.
Continuing in push her dreams of becoming a unique voice in pop music is the song "It's Ok If You Forget Me". Instead of singing about a breakup in a way that is typically pop, she sings that she doesn't care what the other person does after the breakup, she's just sad that the breakup doesn't hurt. This idea and message is an interesting look on breakups in music instead of the typical sadness or longing for the other person. The song itself features a more personable sound from Astrid S. No heavy use of electronic instruments, bass or synths, but a comfortable sound from an acoustic guitar. While the chorus does present some electronic sounds, they are laid-back and far from the heart-pounding, hip-moving, head-bobbing feel from the past tracks.
This feel was prominent in "Marilyn Monroe" and continues through with songs like "Dance Dance Dance", "Obsessed", and "Leave It Beautiful". The sound from these songs are similar in that they start with a near solo performance by Astrid S only to detonate into a dance jam. It can get a little typical and predictable when used throughout the album, but when played singularly these songs are great, just not combined with the entire album idea.
Astrid S has a beautiful voice and the combination of the heavy dance beats are worthy of festival headlining, but sadly 2020 is preventing her from furthering her career in that aspect. The song "Airpods" is a perfect example. The simple lyrics, the intense beat, and the overall catchiness of the track is easily seen playing over large speakers and dancing with a huge group of people, but who knows when that time will come.
Even though Astrid S sounds like a typical popstar, the enjoyment doesn't cease to exist because of this. The special sounds within her beats and the personable lyrics that were co-written with her gives an emotional touch on each track. There are points that the album started to bore me but eventually found a way to draw me back in. The mix of acoustic-touching songs and the dance floor anthems is a fantastic combination that carries across the full ten track listing. I would recommend this album if you're a huge pop fan and want to hear something new as there are only a few songs that I'm not stellar on but those aren't prominent if the rest of the album is fun...
Favorite Songs: "Marilyn Monroe", "It's Ok If You Forget Me", "Dance Dance Dance", "Airpods", "Leave It Beautiful"
Least Favorite Songs: "Good Choices"
Production Quality:
Mix = 8.5/10
Innovation = 3.5/10 (Some different sounds but overall a very typical pop sounding album)
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 6/10 (Very formulaic and predictable but that isn't necessarily a bad thing)
Lyricism = 9.5/10 (Sometimes the lyrics take the easy way out but overall they are very personal)
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 8/10
Instrumental Timbre = 9/10
Group Chemistry = 6/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 8/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!