★★☆☆☆
Madison Beer’s third studio album and most recent release, locket, is thoroughly average. The 11-song tracklist was put out this past Friday. With an underwhelming runtime of about 30 minutes, the album suffers from repetitive sonic choices and safe, formulaic songwriting.
The album dives into themes such as Beer’s experiences with fame and relationships, but lacks cohesion between songs. In sharp contrast to her past projects, such as Silence Between Songs, the album also lacks emotional layers and leans into a softer sound.
The lead single, “make you mine,” sounds like a mashup of songs off a SoulCycle playlist. Despite sounding like a generic remix, this is the only track from the album that distinguishes itself. The house music-inspired beats give Beer a different and refreshing edge.
Had locket committed to the techno-leaning of ‘make you mine,’ it might have stood out as a bold reinvention, rather than a forgettable release.
Similarly, “yes baby” attempts to execute the EDM style of “make you mine.” Unfortunately, this track feels like a poor attempt to mix the Challengers score with a Charli XCX song. While trying to present as edgy, “yes baby” ends up lost within the album and without a definitive identity.
Not to mention, the song repeats the words “yes, baby” over 50 times, making the entire piece mind-numbing and dull.
The last single, “bittersweet,” revealed another, more familiar side of Beer’s music. In a bait and switch, Beer ditches the electropop sound for her roots: classic breakup songs with cliché lyrics.
“One day, I’ll wake up sad / But go to bed so glad / Knowing you know what you could’ve had,” Beer sings. “Now I’m choosin’ me / It wasn’t so easy.”
The leading track of the album, “locket theme,” is no different than the unremarkable tracks that follow. Beer’s angelic backing vocals resemble Ariana Grande’s signature sound so much that the song risks coming across as imitation rather than innovation.
The fourth track, “for the night,” is vaguely reminiscent of a slowed-down version of Britney Spears’ “Criminal.” The lyricism in “for the night” fails to compensate for the lack of productive originality, and the track falls flat.
“I don’t want to be like this forever / Maybe you could put me back together / Baby, if you loved me, I’d feel better / At least for the night, for the night,” Beer sings.
The distracting beeping that makes up the musical backtrack of “complexity” sounds strangely similar to the CVS self-checkout jingle. The song describes Beer’s experience dating someone with emotional baggage and her understanding of when a relationship should be ended. Yet, the prosaic nature of the lyrics dilutes any emotional weight “complexity” might have carried.
“But how can I expect you to love me / When you don’t even love yourself?” Beer sings.
The final song, “nothing at all,” would be best used over a self-help promotion video. Beer sings, “I’m afraid of getting better,” while a sped-up, robotic version of her voice floats around in the background. Overall, these sonic choices diminish Beer’s message and make the track, as a whole, feel tacky.
Beer fakes out excited listeners by dangling musical potential in front of them, in songs like “make you mine,” only to rip it away. As a whole, locket is a disappointing hodgepodge of borrowed ideas among an already crowded, inauthentic pop scene.
