Blog #161: Album Review

I'm trying something new tonight and doing an album review! Tonight's album is K.Flay's "Solutions," which she just released like an hour and a half ago.

I've been following K.Flay for a few years now, and her style can be quite difficult to describe. At its core I would call her music rock, but it's so much more than that. There are many hip hop/rap elements, it can have quite a punk flair, and it's definitely very 'alternative'. And, even though I've never really known anyone else who likes her, she's one of my favorite artists, and I've managed to see her in concert a few times.

That said, I'd been awaiting the release of this new album. She released four singles off of it- Bad Vibes was first, then came This Baby Don't Cry, Sister, and most recently, Not in California. Maybe it's just because I'm familiar with them, but these four are my current favorites off the album.

Bad Vibes is basically an 'eff you' to people who insist on having negative energy, or bad vibes. With lyrics like "You only like bad news, sleep in your coffin like a baby," and "You can't drag me down, cause I feel good, yeah I'm real good," this message is pretty dang clear. Being her first single off the album, it came as a bit of a surprise to most people who were familiar with her past work, which often consisted of darker themes and a lot of the 'bad vibes' elements she renounces in the new song. It is also stylistically different, with a little less punk and a little more alt-pop. It's danceable, which is important to me!

My favorite single is This Baby Don't Cry, because it's just so fun. With a similar message to Bad Vibes, it's kind of a pump up song that you can dance and sing in the mirror. My favorite line is "I used to want to say an early goodbye, but I'm a disco queen, I just keep staying alive." Overall, it's super fun and I love dancing to it (even though I legitimately threw my back out dancing to it tonight... I'm actually in a lot of pain if somebody has advice please let me know).

Sister is an anthem to not just sisterhood, but all relationships where people love and support each other. *As a side note, in social media posts surrounding the release of this single, K.Flay did a series on her favorite "sisters," including Timon & Pumba, Leslie Knope & Ann Perkins, and her & her own sister and brother.* She says that anyone who unconditionally loves you, supports you, and makes you laugh is your sister, and I dig it. The verses are also very reminiscent for me of my own sisterhood with Mariel, which of course adds a nice element. It's also a very danceable song! I love danceable songs!

The final single, Not in California, is lyrically pretty heavy in regard to the climate crisis (and the current state of affairs in the USA in general), but has an angsty, punk-ish, rock sound that makes it fun to yell. And, quite frankly, we should be yelling about all that. "The birds all died and the trees caught fire and the government, it called us crazy." It also features a rap verse, which is a pretty typical K.Flay element, so this song is maybe one of the closest to what we've been hearing from her in the past.

The rest of the album is a mix between some punk-rock stuff, some more subdued songs, and some sounds that are more similar to her 2014 EP Life as a Dog than any of the full length albums in between. (Which, frankly, I don't mind, because that EP was my favorite anything from her until this new album came out.)

In conclusion, I'm loving the new album. I've listened to it straight through twice already. I also have a deeper appreciation for it because K.Flay has been very open about her mental health struggles, and has spoken very openly about how this album came at a pivotal point where it really turned around for the better, and I think this is evident in the music. Her angst and even anger at a lot of things are still there, which I think is okay(!!), but there's also a lot more light in it, for lack of a better word. The lyrics are much more positive, the style more fun. There's a reason she called it 'Solutions.'

Now go give it a listen!

She got that tattoo specifically for this album cover, which is honestly pretty badass.