Recommended tracks: “Hi, Everyone Leave Please,” “Don’t Tempt Me…,” “Chaos”
Artists you may like: Reneé Rapp, Tate McRae, Camila Cabello
“From the bottom of my heart, I want this album to remind everyone that it’s okay to evolve, to let your dreams shift, to walk away from whatever’s no longer filling your cup. It’s so scary to share new parts of yourself, but hopefully these songs will give people the courage to honor who they are in every moment, and to rediscover themselves again and again.”
FLETCHER offers an unfiltered, 11-track exploration of her most vulnerable self yet on Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me? The New Jersey native unpacks layers of her identity, relationships, and internal struggles to solidify her voice as one of pop’s most vulnerable storytellers. We first got a glimpse of Cari, the woman behind the mic, on Girl Of My Dreams through tracks like “For Cari” and “I Think I’m Growing,” but with this new record, she finally brings her true self to the forefront, allowing Cari to take center stage.
FLETCHER has been on her musical journey for 10 years, releasing her first ever song “War Paint” in June of 2015. She first broke into the Hot 100 with her breakout single “Undrunk” and has since released three studio albums accumulating over 3 billion total streams. The pop singer was included in 2022’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Music & Entertainment and she has become one of the biggest icons for the Queer community with anthems like “Becky’s So Hot.” One of FLETCHER’s most compelling qualities is her honesty and authenticity—something that she has continued to embrace on “Boy,” where she vulnerably opens up about kissing a man while navigating her queer identity.
That same vulnerability spills over into “Don’t Tempt Me…,” where she reflects on the darker side of her journey within the music industry. The heartbreak ballad invites listeners directly into her diary as she questions whether or not continuing her career is even worth it. Burnout and self doubt can make you feel like you are carrying the weight of the world on you shoulders, but “Don’t Tempt Me…” serves as a reminder that sometimes putting pen to paper is the first step towards finding clarity in our chaos. “Congratulations!” is a guitar driven track that touches on similar themes of feeling empty in her career: “Remember when it felt good raising hell? / Yea we had a good time / Now I don’t have that fire / Gotta know that it’s okay to change my mind / I’m taking some space / Making my brain rewire.”
The standout track on Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me? is undeniably “Hi, Everyone Leave Please.” The raw narrative exposes the scrutiny artists face while living under a microscope and the insecurities that come from success. With lines like “I sold out Radio City / But I’m not on the radio” and “Now the internets talking / And everybody’s dissecting,” it feels like getting stabbed in the heart in the most emotionally devastating way possible.
“Party” is laced with piano riffs and explores the idea of stepping into new territory during this new era. FLETCHER sings “I’m sorry I can’t always be the time of your life” to explain the pressure she feels to create a certain type of environment at one of her shows. She says,
“It’s like I needed to create a space where they could meet the next love of their life, or reconnect with their ex, or get wasted and have a threesome with people they’d just met. I wanted to give them the time of their lives even if I was having one of the worst of mine. Which meant after a while suppressing what I was really feeling, so I wrote ‘Party’ to let everyone know that this chapter is going to be different from what I’ve given them in the past.”
FLETCHER hints at the emotional distance she feels between her past and present self on “Chaos,” a melancholic yet quietly powerful guitar driven track. The delicate strumming allows each note to land with a weight that is sure to stick long after the song ends: “I’m over all the stories / The bullshit I enabled / I thought my life would look / A little bit more stable / There’s an earthquake in my mind / While the wildfires burn outside.” On “All of The Women,” FLETCHER inspires us all to love every version of ourselves because each chapter makes us who we are. The euphoric pop song brings closure in the midst of doubt and uncertainty.
“Would You Still Love Me?” rounds out the album with beautiful vocal layers that challenge us to go beyond surface level answers to questions that take us to new heights. This album pushes us to think deeper and reach new levels of understanding, not just of the singer we know and love, but also ourselves. “I’ve never had more fun making a record that I did with this one, because I allowed myself to be truly free,” she explains. “Writing songs has always been my way of transmuting pain into beauty, and this album became a lifeline at a time when everything felt so confusing and dark.” In a fearless confessional, FLETCHER has created a mirror for anyone brave enough to take a look.
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