NOTE: This post was written by the lovely u/Tr1skaid3kaphobia who is on a break from Reddit right now, so I am posting on their behalf since they put all this work in! Although I did listen to this album and it was super solid, please do give it a listen!
This is also the last post of the AOTY series for the year, big thanks once again to everyone who did write ups and put the work in!
----
Am I a fire or the lighter, am I full of it?
Is it me or is it all of them?
I'm like my father, I am stubborn, I'm my mother's kid.
I'll guilt myself into the pain until there's nothin' left.
-
Alessia Cara - Clockwork
Artist: Alessia Cara
Album: In The Meantime
Tracklist and Lyrics: Genius
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Genre: Pop, Tropical Pop, R&B Pop
Listen: Apple Music / Spotify / Youtube Music
r/popheads [Fresh] thread: Here (pun intended)
"I think there's kind of an arc of healing that is told throughout the whole album, the creative process was just that. Experiencing a bunch of different things, going through a lot of really hard times and a lot of heavy introspection and a lot of hard work to just navigate life. This album is what came out on the other side."
Introduction:
You may not know who Alessia Cara is, but I can almost guarantee you've heard one of her song. Alessia rose to fame when she released the song "Here" in 2015. The song, which talks about not fitting in and being antisocial, quickly because a sleeper hit and peaked at number 5 on The Billboard U.S. Hot 100. In the same year Alessia released her highly anticipated debut album "Know It All," which was supported in 2016 with a four month tour. The album spawned the minor hits "Wild Things" and "I'm Yours" and even a major hit with the track "Scars To Your Beautiful." Things were pretty quiet for Alessia in 2017. She had a couple hits, "Stay" with producer Zedd, and a collaboration with rapper Logic and singer Khalid, but other than that nothing major happened. It wasn't until the next year that things started heating up for Alessia. In 2018 she was nominated for, and won, "Best New Artist" at the Grammys for "Know It All." It was kinda funny that she was nominated that year for "Best New Artist" for "Know It All," because she was getting ready to start her second album cycle when the nominations were announced. In June of 2018 she started teasing her second album. Then in November of the same she released her second studio album "The Pains Of Growing." Alessia was praised for her personal growth on the LP. Critics commended her for her songwriting and vocal talent on "The Pains Of Growing." The singer then went on another headlining tour for the album, while also supporting her fellow Canadian artist Shawn Mendes on some dates of his own tour that was for his self titled album. Alessia took a small break from music until 2019 when she released the EP "This Summer." The EP was praised by critics and fans alike. Alessia continued to keep busy for the first half of the next year. She released a collaboration with Lauv on his debut album, she made her debut as a voice actor in the Netflix movie "The Willoughbys" and in July of 2020 she released a live version of the "This Summer" EP. Alessia then took time off to work on her music and that's when she started making her third album "In The Meantime." In July of 2021 she then announced the release of the two lead singles "Sweat Dream" and "Shapeshifter." The singles were meant with praise among her fans and critics. After the singles were released Alessia then began teasing details about the album. She sent two emails. The first was a riddle that, when you unscrambled it, included the title of the album. The second was a an image with all pointing to a specific time, which turned out to be the release date of the project. Then in September Alessia announced the title and release date of the album and later that month she released her third studio project "In The Meantime."
"In The Meantime" was one of my favorite albums of last year. In this write up I'm gonna talk about my favorite tracks and give my personal feelings and views about some of the songs. I hope you all enjoy!
Track Analysis:
Unboxing Intro:
Am I in reality? (I hope) Is it all a dream (I don't know)
Such duality, animosity. (I don't know)
Need some clarity.
I missed therapy again (third time this, third time this week.
Everybody pack it up. Go home. You're done. You're finished. You can try, but you can't make an intro as good as this one. I guarantee it. Ok, but in all seriousness, this has to be one of the best intros I've ever heard. Despite being only 50 seconds long, and an intro, Unboxing is one of the best songs on the album. The song starts quiet, but quickly explodes into the verse. The best way to explain it would be that it "comes from the depths." The song is also fittingly titled, because as Alessia sings the lyrics, they sound like she is "Unboxing" her inner thoughts. As the song goes on, it starts to picks up tempo. Everything in the song the starts to feels overwhelming, but that's the genius of the song, when your unboxing your thoughts about something it often feels overwhelming. At the end of the song the sound of something dropping onto a desk is heard. I love this, because it connects to the closing line of the song "Have I almost hit the bottom?" The song sets the tone of the album perfectly and overall is a great opener to an amazing album.
Box in the Ocean:
What if they forget about all I've done?
If I built it up just to be no one.
I make my own expectations for every single situation.
Then break my own heart when it all falls.
At first "Box in the Ocean" starts off calmly with simple "da-da-da's" and soft horns in the background, but then a sudden yell can be heard from Alessia as the song bursts into the verse. The production is bright and sunny and it almost makes you feel like your beach or a boat admiring the water. One of the things I love is when a song has bright production, but sad or dark lyrics and that's exactly what this song does. The lyrics reflect on Alessia's self doubt and personal fears that she's bottled up inside her. As Alessia herself puts it, "Box in the Ocean" kind of tackles all of the thoughts and feeling she's experienced back then and as the album goes on she picks them all apart. Whenever I listen to this song, as sad as it may be, I always feel like I'm inthe middle of the ocean, on a raft, alone with my feeling, but on the other hand I also feel seen and like I'm not alone at all. One of the things I've always loved about Alessia is how she's able to make you feel what she wants you to feel when listening to her music and she certainly succeeds with "Box in the Ocean."
Bluebird:
Bluebird in the spring.
Told me that your new girl makes you sing.
Guess my loving only clipped your wings.
So, I let you go.
Alright y'all might want to sit back and grab a snack or something because I got a lot to say about this song. I'll be honest when I first heard "Bluebird," it wasn't one of my favorites from the album. In fact it was in the bottom part of my personal ranking. But as time went on and I revisited the project, the track slowly grew on me. It grew on my so much in fact where it's now in my top 3 favorites on the album. The intro samples an eight year old girl's cover of "I Wish You Love," which is a translated version of a french song titled "Que reste-t-il de nos amours" (this will also be important later so remember that.) After the intro the song flows into a smooth chorus with Bossa Nova style beat that Alessia croons over with a soft and easy melody . The production is amazing and the melody is fun, but one of the things I love most about "Bluebird" is the lyrics and how clever and relatable they are (and the fact that Alessia referenced Coldplay and Frida Kahlo in the same line and still managed to make it work.) The lyrics touch on the feeling after a breakup, when you have to accept the fact that your ex has moved on and that it was probably for the better. As the song goes on, it's like going through stages of those feelings. The first verse talks about Alessia accepting the fact that her ex has moved on and that she should to, telling herself to take a trip to Rio and then "tear up on the beach to Viva La Vida like Frida." After a second chorus the song then goes into the second verse which is my personal favorite part of the song. The verse starts out with the lyric "I'll write you a song I'll never send ya. I don't wanna disrespect ya." which is my favorite lyric, not just in the song, but in the whole album as well. Why? Because it's just so relatable to me. As a songwriter myself, this lyric instantly stood out to me since I've done the same thing, as I'm sure multiple other songwriters have. As the verse goes on, Alessia continues to accept the fact that her former love has moved on. But with the lyric "I'm hurting less. I'm sure she'll be what your waiting for." she acknowledges the fact that even though she's said over the relationship she still has her doubts and hopes that her ex isn't. The other thing I love most about this song is how Alessia is able to perfectly captures these specific post-breakup feelings and perfectly express how it feels. Even if she's never felt it before. Remember when I said the sample was important? Well Alessia shared in a tweet that the sample inspired her to write the song, she said: "I heard the sample and immediately pictured a girl in Europe in the 1900s writing a letter to her ex lover. it started as me being a narrator but then I changed it to first person." That's always been one of the things I've loved most about Alessia. The fact how she can take anything and write a song about it whether or not she's experienced it. And she can do it well too as this song proves. And even though this song may not be autobiographical, it still perfectly encapsulates those emotions you feel and Alessia flawlessly expresses them with her writing and production and "Bluebird" truly one of the best and most beautiful songs on the record.
Lie To Me:
And they love to say I'm crazy.
Suspicious and insecure.
But, baby, can you blame me?
You know I've been hurt before.
As I've said before, one of my favorite things about Alessia is her ability to take a situation and write a song about it that perfectly describes those feelings even if she's never felt them before. And "Lie To Me" showcases that talent perfectly. Alessia isn't singing about her being suspicious of her lover, she is singing from the perspective of her friend. Alessia said that she originally wrote "Lie To Me" when one of her friend's started getting suspicious about her new boyfriends. The funny thing is she wrote the song, but then the guy ended up doing nothing wrong, so Alessia ended up keeping the song. And I'm glad she did! "Lie To Me" is one of, if not the most, upbeat song on the album. The track is a nice refresher of energy after the first few mid-tempo, slower tracks. I remember when I first heard this song, I instantly knew I was gonna like it the moment I heard Alessia start singing "Da-da-da-da-da-da." Her pen game is on point in this song with clever rhymes and catchy lyrics. I think my favorite thing about the song though is the melody. Alessia knew what she was doing when creating this melody. It's easy, fun, enjoyable, it's a perfect pop melody and it's bound to get stuck in your head for days. The production on "Lie To Me" is also easily some of the best on the album. Alessia and her team knew what they were doing when making "Lie To Me." They knew they were making an amazing pop song and one of the best on the album.
I Miss You, Don't Call Me:
And the heart beats there.
And we can't hide it (oh, no, no.)
But I'm too scared
To breathe air into it, I might revive it (oh.)
In my opinion, "I Miss You, Don't Call Me" isn't just one of the best songs on this album, but is one of the best songs Alessia has ever made. Everything about this song is perfect. The melody, the lyrics, the production, the structure. Everything! The song talks about a past love of Alessia's that ended badly. A past love that she feels might still have a chance, but a chance she doesn't want to take, but one that she wants to take at the same time. The song starts out with a melancholic guitar and then goes into an even more melancholic melody as Alessia starts singing. The moment I heard Alessia start singing I knew that I was gonna love this song. The first verse tells the story of reconnecting with her past ex and how she's sad that they're both different now. As the song flows into the chorus Alessia sings about her longing to get back together with her ex, but being too scared to. Alessia's vocals sound angelic on this part of the song and make the experience so much more amazing. My favorite part of this song is this chorus. After a whole section of Alessia asking her ex not to call her, she reveals her true wishes and finally says "I miss you, please call me" and it just hits hard for some reason that I can't explain. As the song continues into the second verse, Alessia find herself growing closer to her former love. She reminiscences about when she last saw them and how they said "everything would be alright." After another heavenly chorus comes the bridge, which is one of the best parts of the song in my opinion. In the bridge, it seems like Alessia finally tells this past love about her feelings. About how she's scared, but will never stop loving them. The song then fades into an outro that mixes the chorus and the bridge together that just elevates the whole song. After I first heard this song, I went back and played it again. I played this song for probably 15 minutes before I finally listened to the rest of the album. And there aren't many songs that make me do that either, but this song is special. This song is Alessia when she's at her best and if I could recommend one song on the album for someone to listen to it would be "I Miss You, Don't Call Me."
Best Days:
So much harder to be honest
With yourself at 20 something.
Wish I knew what I'm becoming.
And felt the ground when I was on it.
When I first heard "Best Days" I knew it was gonna be my favorite song on the album. Why? Because I'm an absolute hoe for ballads. And also because I knew it was gonna be relateable. Just from the first line, "So much harder to be honest with yourself at 20 something," I knew this would be my song. This song does make me feel sad when I listen to it, but it also makes me feel seen. I'm sure a lot of us have had the thought that our best days were behind us. Alessia's voice is filled with soft emotion that you can feel throughout the song as she sings over a lovely piano. A little fun fact is that Alessia got this song was meant to be the bridge of the track "Box In The Ocean." Alessia said that when her producer heard it, he called her stupid if she didn't make it into an actual song. Alessia also got the title of the album for this song with the lyrics "and the hardest pill to swallow is the meantime." There's not much more I can say about this song except that I feel like Alessia is at her best when she makes songs like this and that she perfectly described that feeling of sorrow with this song.
Find My Boy:
Catch me in Toronto with a Cappucino.
Always on the run in my same old sneakers.
I'm talking to you so turn up your speakers.
Man of my dreams, I can't wait to meet ya.
Four words. A Certified Tropical Bop! "Find My Boy" is about the feeling I'm sure almost all of us have felt, being single and lonely. It's too bad that Alessia released this album in fall, because this song just sounds like summer. One of the more upbeat and happier songs on the album, "Find My Boy" is just Alessia talking about all of the thing that she think her future soulmate might be doing. Whether they're "by the beach doing yoga poses," "hitting up Milan's finest galleria" or "smoking in LA." This song has "biking energy." That's a good thing. Whenever I listen to this song, I always just picture myself riding a bike on a sunny day singing along to it and living my care free life... but sadly we can't do that right now. The production also takes this song to a new level. The tropical beat just gives of the feel of sunny days and summer fun and it makes the whole song just more enjoyable. Even though Alessia was a few months late in releasing it, "Find My Boy" is the song of the summer in my eyes.
Voice in my Head:
I'm runnin' on empty, feel like I can't breathe.
I'd escape myself if I could, never out of the woods.
I'm stuck with me after all.
I just wish I could shake the burdens off.
"Is this gonna be sad," "This is so good," "Oh wait," "Oh no," "Ugh, this hurts," "This is so painful," "Alessia, please stop I'm fragile!!!" were all thoughts that went through my head when I first listened to this song. This song is the first song in a three track long stretch on the album that I like to call "the emotional takedown." Why? Because at least one of the three songs in the stretch are gonna take you down when you listen to it. Now on this song, Alessia sings about finally dealing with the battles she faces with that little voice in the back of her head that I'm sure most of us deal with. I know I have. That's what I love most about this song. It's just sooo relatable. And it's very personal and vulnerable. That's another thing I've always loved about Alessia, the fact that she's always been so open and honest in her music. This song has to be one of the most open and emotional songs Alessia has ever written. You don't even have to listen to this song to know that, just look at the lyrics. This song is just one of those songs where you relate to it so much, it's not even funny. At least that's what it is for me. There's not much else I can say about this song. The production is great. The melodies are amazing. But the lyrics and meaning are the best part in my opinion. Alessia put her self out there with this song and took a risk being so open, but in my opinion it was a risk worth taking. Because if she hadn't we would have never gotten this gem of a song.
Final Thoughts:
This is a really solid album. Even though there may have been a few weaker songs on here, there isn't one skip in my opinion. This album showcases all of Alessia's talents. The songwriting is on point! The melodies are always creative and interesting! The production is amazing and even elevates some song to whole new levels! The whole flow of the project just feels right! This album is definitely a peak in Alessia's career and I don't even think she's hit her prime yet! Alessia is so talented and I feel like she can only go up from here! Thank you Alessia for this absolute gem of an album!
Discussion Questions:
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Where would you rank this album among Alessia's discography? Do you think it's her best album? Maybe her worst? Or is it in the middle?
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What's your favorite song on the album? What's your least favorite?
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Have any songs grown on you? Or have some songs fell in your ranking since you first listened?
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What song or songs on this album do you relate to most? Were there any certain lyrics that stuck out to you that you related to?
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What do you think is next for Alessia? What sound or genre do you think she'll explore in her next project? Or do you think she'll take some time off from music?
