Recommended tracks: “If He Wanted To He Would,” “Rocket Scientist,” “Same Place Different View”
Artists you might like: Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, Mimi Webb
Perrie has officially traded in her girl group wings for a solo spotlight, and oh, does she dazzle in it. The former Little Mix powerhouse launches herself into pop stardom with her debut album Perrie. This record is every pop lover’s dream, packed with songs to belt out in the shower and bangers made for car rides and open windows with your girlfriends.
Perrie is 32 now, but there was once a time where she was just a 17-year-old girl auditioning for The X Factor with Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” Though she originally auditioned as a solo artist, she was placed into a group with three other contestants: Jade Thirlwall, Jesse Nelson, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. Together they’d be known as Little Mix, the first girl group to ever win The X Factor in 2011. After a decade of award-winning albums and sold-out world tours, Perrie is no stranger to the demands of the music industry. In 2021, the group announced that they would be going on hiatus to focus on their own creative endeavors after the conclusion of their 2022 Confetti World Tour.
Fast forward to April 2024 and Perrie came out swinging with her debut solo single, “Forget About Us.” Getting Perrie, Ed Sheeran, David Hodges, and Steve Solomon in a writers’ room together could only lead to one thing: a perfect pop recipe. The single debuted at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, marking her first Top 10 hit as a solo artist. Since its debut, Perrie has released an acoustic version, plus other alternative versions including instrumental and a capella. And now, she’s finally released her debut full-length album.
There are very few artists who can compete with the vocal abilities of Adele, but Perrie is one of them. Maybe there’s something in the water over in the United Kingdom. Her tone, crisp and melancholic, is perfectly suited for a ballad. Somehow, she makes sadness sound beautiful on “Miss You” and “Same Place Different View.” Between the two songs, there’s no doubt about it — she’s absolutely serving vocals.
“Miss You” goes back and forth between feeling nostalgic about the past and getting hit with the reality that it’s actually just someone who hurt you. We hear the conflict in lines like “Every time I think of your love / I remember your lies, it kills me inside” before finding clarity in “I guess the memory of you is what I miss tonight.”
Then there’s “Same Place Different View,” which hits close to home for pretty much anyone who’s ever been strung along in any type of relationship. It’s for anyone who’s been in a relationship that was built on empty promises and leaves you stuck feeling like “it’s always a stormy season.” Who wants to live in a constant emotional battle? The singer is left pleading, “Say you’ll change / When will you mean it,” capturing the frustration of empty promises.
Let’s pick things back up, shall we? Perrie declares that we are done “applauding people for doing fuck all” on “If He Wanted To He Would.” This is a classic pop song, and if it sounds familiar, it’s because it’s an interpolation of Little Mix’s “Shout Out to My Ex.” It was released a little over a month ago and has already surpassed four million streams on Spotify.
We continue right along with “Sand Dancer,” a track with a rhythm that pulls you in and keeps you dancing. And who knew we needed Perrie’s voice on a Jon Bellion song — we get a pleasantly unexpected pairing on “Rocket Scientist.” This song gets a 10/10 from me.
The vocals? Perfectly executed. The production? Radio-ready. This LP is 50 minutes of undeniable talent and is definitely worth getting lost in.
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