Kern Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago Golden Echo was so good and live versions of some PH tracks pre-release were interesting and then suddenly it's like she became forgotten
JoeAg Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago still love her! still haven't checked out the Idols & Vices sh*t though whoops the collab with Banks was a cute bop but idk… maybe I'll give it a first listen on my bike ride home from work in a few hours? A Reckoning very much killed any momentum she had left. it's a solid album, but my GOD is it polarizing or WHAT Gun, Replay!, and Personal Space are true bangers though so
duybeeGAshantiGA Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago Idk I love her first album. I couldnt finish her last collab album for some reason.
JoeAg Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago I think her best move would be to go back to the sound The Golden Echo had and double down on the storytelling element that whole album had. Primal Heart—while a great pop album—was a bit too all over the place in terms of what it wanted to be. there's triumphant progressive pop which bangs and feels timeless (The Good War, Top of the World, Everybody Knows, Lightyears) and then there's cutesy indie pop which almost feels like an evolution of what she had going on on Vows (Recovery, Past Love) and then two great eleventh hour ballads (Right Direction, Version of Me) but it didn't feel like a logical progression from The Golden Echo unfortunately it felt like a logical progression from Vows somehow! I think the way tracks faded into each other/sequencing on Vows and The Golden Echo made them so much more rewarding to revisit than Primal Heart as a whole. Primal Heart is like a great playlist of random undiscovered pop, and A Reckoning was maybe a bit too focused on being angry to really leave a lasting impression she's got a solid cult fanbase still, but while she was once on a Janelle Monáe-like trajectory of upward fan accruement, she faltered and is now on the popularity level of people like her good friends (and underappreciated art pop geniuses in their own rights) Dawn Richard and Banks
Dolce Vita Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago i feel like she's one of those artists you see in spotify playlists occasionally but you never really pay much attention outside of 1-2 songs. no shade
Spicy Pisces Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago Isn't she the one who everybody thought was Katy Perry in Somebody That I Used To Know? 1
Radical Pessimism Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago Her and that goatee singer had their one hit and disappear a decade ago
Kern Posted 1 hour ago Author Posted 1 hour ago Just now, Radical Pessimism said: Her and that goatee singer had their one hit and disappear a decade ago everytime I read your posts I feel bad You're so negative
Uncatena Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago I think she is one of those artists that has absolutely no interest in compromising her vision for commercial success. she still has a small but dedicated fanbase, just released another record, and she opened for Jacob Collier and did her own touring. 1 1
Radical Pessimism Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago 43 minutes ago, Kern said: everytime I read your posts I feel bad You're so negative
professor2000 Posted 47 minutes ago Posted 47 minutes ago 1 hour ago, JoeAg said: still love her! still haven't checked out the Idols & Vices sh*t though whoops the collab with Banks was a cute bop but idk… maybe I'll give it a first listen on my bike ride home from work in a few hours? A Reckoning very much killed any momentum she had left. it's a solid album, but my GOD is it polarizing or WHAT Gun, Replay!, and Personal Space are true bangers though so Yeah I didn't like The Reckoning…couldn't get into it. But she returned to her "regular melodic sound" on Idols and Vices (her words)…so it sounds like she knows ppl didn't like that album lol. She'll always be a fave of mine. I&V confirmed that for me. I wish she had a bigger push now though, it does seem like she's losing steam. 1
Kota Posted 44 minutes ago Posted 44 minutes ago Two boring albums in a row Vows through Primal Heart was an incredible run though, most indie pop girls could only dream 1
JoeAg Posted 21 minutes ago Posted 21 minutes ago 22 minutes ago, professor2000 said: Yeah I didn't like The Reckoning…couldn't get into it. But she returned to her "regular melodic sound" on Idols and Vices (her words)…so it sounds like she knows ppl didn't like that album lol. She'll always be a fave of mine. I&V confirmed that for me. I wish she had a bigger push now though, it does seem like she's losing steam. I know and it sucks! she's super talented and her voice is just as gorgeous as it was when she debuted I think the lack of a push plays into how there was presumably some confusion in terms of how she was to be marketed at the beginning of her career: a few cute hits in oceania, then a sleeper hit collab which became one of the most successful duets in modern pop history, then… well what next? Cameo Lover as a cute hit for Europe and the US? nahhh, still a bit too left field! what about Warrior promoted heavily? nahhh not single material other than laying the groundwork for a campaign and a cool video… but The Golden Echo didn't go for pop hits, it went for long term artistry! Primal Heart almost went for pop hits, and Top of the World appeared to have smashed on her home planet New Zealousland, but by that point it was too late for her to become an international popstar, or so it felt! honestly it's a shame cause she's truly big time talented (I mean listen to Withdraw, As You Are, and Save Me, her vocals are A+/S tier) but yeah I think she's probably happy with her niche at this point which is great, though I do wish she'd have held onto some of that original momentum as a fan who sees how capable of success her level of talent truly is
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