REVIEW: Out of the Blue, Brynn Cartelli

With her brand new debut album Out of the Blue, Brynn Cartelli is primed to be the next big singer-songwriter pop star. She finds her niche in cinematic, lyrically heart-tugging acoustic-pop, meeting and, dare I say, even sometimes exceeding the precedent set by hits like Olivia Rodrigo's "driver's license" and Gracie Abrams's "Mess It Up."

Now five years out from winning Season 14 of The Voice at only fifteen years old, Brynn Cartelli has already proved that she has enough vocal talent to succeed on that alone. But with many of the album's fourteen tracks self-written by Cartelli, Out of the Blue proves that she also shines as a lyricist, romanticizing the growing pains of young love and yearning for self-acceptance with the finesse and sophistication of a well-seasoned virtuoso.

Stand-out tracks: "Gemini" "Watching My Friends Fall in Love""The Blue" "Boy From Home"

My favorites: "Beginning of the End" "Convertible in the Rain" "Fine Line" "Leader"

From the first resounding synths of "Beginning of the End,"Out of the Blue is fully immersive, with the themes of the album evident from the first lines: "Looking for hope in the all the wrong places/Trying to hold on as everything changes/I can't let go of familiar faces." Cartelli illustrates with knowing precision the overwhelming spiral of watching your life change before your eyes and the inescapable knot in your chest you feel when you're crashing down from a high that you knew would never last.

If you walk away from Out of the Blue without the bridge or chorus of "Gemini" stuck in your head, please tell me your secrets; this one is addictive ear-worm pop at its best. From its persistent beat and mesmerizing vocal layering to its witty horoscope-influenced lyricism (see: "I'm falling for a Gemini/It's in the stars, in the sky/I don't know why I can never fall for your pretty lies"), "Gemini" is the captivating hook into the world of Out of the Blue that won't let go. It's followed by punchy "Watching My Friends Fall in Love," where Cartelli's full vocal range finally has a chance to stretch its wings. The warmth and unconditional joy we feel seeing those we love finding love isn't often center stage in pop music; being the third wheel has never been more joyous than in lyrics like "You keep it quiet, don't get too far in advance/At 3 a.m. I catch you gripping honest hands/And in the hallway he says, "Do you wanna dance?"/And I'm a fan."

While so many other moments on Out of the Blue are romantic and hopeful, the inspiration for the album's title comes from "The Blue," an optimistically messy processing of the blindsiding end of a relationship. Brynn isn't one to walk away without proving that the love she felt was real, and not just from her perspective:"You told me, you could see me/Looking pretty dressed in all white/And you know I, I believed it/But, babe, I was blinded by your lies/Said it was 'alright'/You would tell me all the time/It came out of the blue." "Boy From Home" is the culmination of Out of the Blue as a complete work of art. This is Cartelli's love letter to New York City, to a new version of herself. It's a goodbye to a love from her past. It's the hurt and the freedom of finally seeing through "fake empathy" and apologies.

I listened to all the tracks pre-released from Out of the Blue prior to the full album release, and "Convertible in the Rain" is the one that really made me believe that Brynn Cartelli is something special. While this track as a whole is light compared to many others on the album, Cartelli's visual, romantic young-love storytelling is incomparable, the groovy, jazzy synth and electric guitar hook is refreshing-- "Convertible in the Rain" itself just feels as magical as the moment described in the song.

Even the understated tracks that fill out Out of the Blue's tracklist are exquisitely executed both in production and writing. "Running In Place" is upbeat, illustrating tumultuous love that you just can't detach from (I'm obsessed with the line "There's a suitcase ready, right next to my bed/So don't you tempt me, or I'll be gone in ten". "Girl Code" is classic acoustic pop, spun in the direction of struggling with the mess of desiring the same person as someone you care about, while reveling in the charm and captivation of the beginnings of new love. "Lucky to Love You" is sweet, heartfelt adoration all wrapped up in a silky bow. "Darker Days" sounds like it would be at home on Kacey Musgraves's Golden Hour; sentimentalizing a drive through your hometown, frozen over by the middle of winter, longing for your world to feel bigger than it does.

The final rise and fall of Out of the Blue comes with the coupling of soaring "Play With Fire" and raw piano ballad "Leader." The former is scorching, with Brynn pouring all the power of her formidable vocal range into shattering a love that has torn her apart. Boasting writing credits from Justin Vernon thanks to its interpolation of Bon Iver's "Holocene" and one of the strongest bridges on the album, "Play With Fire" is an unwavering high. After baring her heart in so many ways across the album, Cartelli concludes Out of the Blue with devastating "Leader." The crushing weight of being strong for everyone but herself finally breaks her: "Cause I'd do anything for ya/But I'm selfish if I'm helpless on the floor/Can't do this anymore/Can't be your leader." Through all the heartbreak, both for herself and love lost, documented in the metaphorical-journal pages of Out of the Blue, it's clear that Brynn Cartelli has set herself free, and her debut is just the beginning.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

Abby's GRAMMY Predictions: ALBUM OF THE YEAR

GRAMMY Nominees: SOS, SZA

Female artists are breaking out of the confines of genres and album expectations and embracing creative freedom like never before. At the head of the movement: SZA, with her sophomore album SOS. Released five and a half years after her acclaimed debut Ctrl, SOS is comprised of 23 tracks representing a multitude of genres, from R&B hip-hop to indie pop-rock. With nominations in the R&B, Rap, and Pop genres at the 2024 GRAMMYs, SZA clearly doesn't want to be defined as anything but an artist who takes the time to create a multifaceted album with impeccable dedication and absolutely no pretentiousness.

Stand-out tracks: "Used (feat. Don Toliver)" "Gone Girl" "I Hate U" "Good Days"

My favorites: "Seek and Destroy" "Ghost in the Machine (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)" "Nobody Gets Me"

Hip-hop style album intro "SOS" is carefree and organic, setting the tone for the next hour of music as a tumultuous exploration of crumbling relationships and grappling with the search for serenity and self-assurance and leading into SZA's chart-topping "Kill Bill." This SZA’s revenge, and a low-key crazy girl anthem, with SZA proclaiming "Rather be in Hell than alone" as she ruminates on the dark inner desire for her to say “If I can’t have you, no one should.”

SZA takes resentful responsibility for the painful endings of relationships on sultry "Seek & Destroy." She accepts her own flaws with exasperation, but prioritizes herself over surface-level relationships, stating "I hate to do it to you/Do what I gotta do." After experimenting with pop and rap over the first few tracks, SZA leans into her soulful indie-R&B niche with "Love Language.” If reading SOS like a diary, this is the chapter of the album where the lyrics are outlined in little hearts and SZA gushes about her new lover.

SOS hits its groove with back-to-back "Used (feat. Don Toliver)" and "Snooze." This is passionate diaristic writing at its finest, with ear-catching lyrics like "My sanity's at a 6.7" and "Can't lose myself to your ego, I wanna say/Love me better when you try less/I don’t take much, just need your honesty.”

Break-up anthem "Gone Girl" is a moment of confidence and self-assurance achieved, with almost gospel-style backing vocals and spelled out "I need more space and security/I need less voices, just you and me/I need your touch, not your scrutiny." This one is a high point on the album, shining with moments of stunning production and vocal performance. Somehow "Ghost in the Machine (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)" achieves an alternative R&B track, with SZA "craving humanity." The thrumming production, opposites-attract vocal styles of SZA and Phoebe Bridgers, and the spoken outro again referring to “Those who have forsaken their humanity” make this track stand out as a moment of spiraling about feeling so small in the grand scheme of life.

Gone are the smooth R&B tones SZA is known for as the experimental tracks on the album continue on "F2F," which leans into pop-rock style instrumentation and vocalization. While earlier in the album SZA has reflected on the pains and metamorphosis of crumbling relationships and self-discovery, this one is purely lighthearted and carefree sonically while letting out frustration over missing someone lyrically. Stylistically, "Nobody Gets Me" turns acoustic with wide-spanning vocals that make you almost double-take, wondering if this is the same SZA you've been listening to for the first 13 tracks of the album.

The back half of the album is the string of tracks that slow down the pacing a little, with "Conceited," "Special," and "Too Late" leaning into acoustic R&B-influenced pop. These are lighter moments on the album where SZA appears more confessional and lost in her daydream thoughts. While the messy confessional lyricism that's apparent across the entirety of SOS remains, the production shifts back to trap as the album picks up the pace on "Far" and "Shirt." The ultimate descriptor of SOS can be found in the lyrics of thumping off-the-cuff groove "I Hate U": "Heavy reminiscin'/Heavy on the missin' you/Wish it was different than what it was/I've been up, baby/Lost in the lie of us."

The finale of SOS comes with the gleaming acoustics, birds chirping, soft drum patterns, electronic production, and “Gotta let go of weight, can’t keep what’s holding me” lyricism of "Good Days. While SOS has shown us every shade of SZA’s emotions, this is the culmination and resolve of the album as a whole, with every messy, rejected, assured, sincere emotion spilled across its metaphorical pages signed off on with hope for the future.

GRAMMY for Album of the Year

While I can say that for me, SOS as a complete album is far from my favorite album, even amongst the 2024 Album of the Year nominees, I can't deny that it's an astronomical musical achievement. This was clearly an ambitious passion project for SZA that catapulted her towards connection with millions of listeners and brought her the highest level of solo success of her career thus far (see: breaking a 54-year-old record held by Aretha Franklin for the most weeks atop the R&B/Hip-Hop Charts for a female artist). Like the modern love stories, both romantic and personal, illustrated across SOS, the album is messy, vulnerable, complex, and freeing. This is far from a concept album, although the themes of confessional, emotional desire for connection are evident across the album as a whole. Personally, I feel like SOS would benefit from addition through subtraction with the elimination of a few of its 23 tracks to still communicate its message effectively. With its astronomical critical acclaim, army of diehard fans, and ambitious genre-bending relatable musical prowess, SOS remains a top contender for Album of the Year.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: OBSESSED WITH SOME TRACKS