to flesh out my thoughts from yesterday, having played this twice in full now...
the "AM" section (first 5/6 tracks) is fucking boring. Jaded feels like a slog to get through, Rose Colored Lenses is a bit better but still feels laboured in terms of the songwriting. Thousand Miles is a real fucking snooze, and the attempt to turn it into a Harry Styles track at the end actually made me angry.
You is a fantastic song, but whatever they've done with the production is bizarre. it feels audibly like a song that's been through many iterations, the final one being this uncomfortable mix of raw rock ballad and flat electronic pop song. a real shame, but at least we have the far superior live version.
not sure if Handstand is a great song per se but it's interesting and the way it goes all electronic to segue into the second half of the album is well done.
River... like many songs here feels very first-draft. like, that chorus needed some serious work, it's lazy. the middle 8 is hot but over way too soon. Violet Chemistry is probably the best track on the album? a more successful banger than River. but even there the chorus has some odd melodic things going on and the vocal is buried too deep.
I surprisingly don't hate Muddy Feet, quite good. Wildcard needs more plays. Island feels like it might have been the blueprint for this record - it's relaxed, breezy, sensual, a properly good song. Wonder Woman wants very badly to be Golden G String but it's undercooked.
the whole thing just feels surprisingly demoish, flatly produced (Kid Harpoon is a horrible fit for her) and melodically meh. I'm quite surprised the label allowed this album to be released in its current state actually.
