Allie X’s ‘Super Sunset’ is a Super Smash: Listen

[News]

Allie X explores the landscape of Los Angeles life through alter egos & cinematic pop music

“Imagine walking into a department store in the early 90s and everyone’s in drag.” This is how Allie X introduced fans to the world of her new mini-album, Super Sunset, through a teaser video back in July. The project chronicles Allie’s stint living in LA, especially, as she says, “the utter madness one feels trying to make it.”
With monthly single drops for the past 5 months along with alter ego characters to support each song, Allie has allowed every song on this high-concept project to shine in its own space. Let’s take a closer look at each of these characters and the songs that go with them.

Courtesy of last.fm

The Nun

In an Instagram livestream, Allie explained that the Nun character “embodies spirituality and authenticity in an industry where it’s easy to lose sight of oneself.” The Nun is represented musically through the most candidly personal songs on the album, dealing with personality flaws and love.

Little Things: This introspective pop banger deals with Allie questioning her own mindset and why she takes on the worst in life like a soldier, yet loses her mind over minor annoyances. The lyrics are all psychology and the sound showcases a gradual build to an explosion in the bridge. Overall, a fantastic pop song with a fascinating, fully-realized concept. 10/10

Focus: As the album closer, this track demonstrates a sonic and lyrical departure from the rest of the project. The chaos of the rest of the project leads to a chilled-out, vocoder-tinged love song. It feels like the light at the end of the tunnel as Allie professes, “When you love someone/The rest just falls away”. This is another track that builds as it goes, and every post-chorus section makes me melt, even months after its release. 10/10

Courtesy of Billboard

The Hollywood Starlet

The Hollywood Starlet character represents ambition and dreams, yet simultaneously, desperation and disposability. Musically, her songs discuss life in Los Angeles and vapid relationships.

Not So Bad in LA: This song is a dark, brooding tribute to convincing oneself that life in the star-studded city is okay. “Angels all left, but we’ll stay”, Allie laments on this track. The vocal production is a bit odd and muffled, but the overall product does exactly what it’s trying to. 8/10

Girl of the Year: Clocking in around 110 beats per minute, Girl of the Year is easily the most uptempo moment on the mini album. The song describes a one-sided relationship in which one party is using the other: “I’m nothing to you, that’s what you like/I’m just a battery to keep you energized”. Again, I take issue with the vocal production, but that chorus melody is so infectious that I almost don’t care. 9/10

Courtesy of Allie X’s Instagram @alliex

Sci-Fi Girl

Admittedly, if this project has a weak spot, it’s with the realization of this character. It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint what exactly Sci-Fi Girl represents. Some fans say it personifies the quirky, imperfect side of Allie’s personality, but the songs don’t seem to support that.

Science: … And while this song may sound like a natural theme song for Sci Fi Girl, lyrically it deals with the rush of a new relationship. Placed over a dark, synthwave beat, the song exemplifies the “late night drive” feeling and throws it into 3018. This song was an instant love for me, and shows how Allie truly has making dark synthpop “right down to a science”. 10/10

Can’t Stop Now: I’ve only had a day to sit with this song, as it was the only new full track by the time the record came out, but it still leaves a distinct impression. Can’t Stop Now discusses Allie’s feeling of being trapped in her career due to how much she’s already put into it. Sonically, it feels like an understated child of Science and Focus, with spacey synths and a strong vocoder presence. 8/10

Closing Thoughts

While this mini-album feels all too short, clocking in at a mere 22 minutes, every second of it oozes creative energy. The imagery demonstrated through the characters is truly icing on the cake to brings the sound landscapes the songs build into the visual world.

I would say this project is Allie’s most consistent and cohesive work, and I applaud her commitment to her themes throughout this chapter of her musical story. Allie X’s progression has been a blast to watch, and I cannot wait to see where her music goes next.

Listen to Super Sunset on Spotify below, or on other platforms HERE

The post Allie X’s ‘Super Sunset’ is a Super Smash: Listen appeared first on Verge Campus.

Source