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After seeing the Barbie movie, the only thing I wanted to do was listen to the soundtrack repeatedly (except maybe walk right back in the theater and watch the movie again, but that's for another day). I had yet to dive into a soundtrack album and share my thoughts, so approaching Barbie The Album as a collection of songs that were meant to complement all the fuschia, fun, and feminism of the film, rather than be created as a cohesive stand-alone album, was a fun way to carry the energy (or should I say Kenergy) of Barbieland into the Real World.
Stand-out tracks: "Dance The Night" "I'm Just Ken" "What Was I Made For?"
My favorites: "Speed Drive" "Man I Am" "Choose Your Fighter"
Lizzo's "Pink" opens both the film and the soundtrack with lighthearted, girlish fun. If bubblegum pink were a song, this would be it. With the little exclamations of "pink!", this one is just the right way to enter into the rainbows and joy that is Barbieland. If "Pink" was bubblegum pink, Dua Lipa's "Dance The Night" is a deeper, more neon Barbie-pink complete with glitter. It's no wonder the Barbies in the movie had planned party choreography to this song. And the little "clap clap" is just absolutely meant to be danced along to.
I'm not usually a huge fan of rap, but Nick Minaj and Ice Spice's "Barbie World (with Aqua)" with its play on the classic "Barbie Girl" and clever "I'm I'm a ten, so I pull in a Ken" and "I'm I'm a doll, but I still wanna party" fits right into the girl boss energy of everything Barbie. Charli XCX's "Speed Drive" is absolutely addictive with its blown-out synths, hyper-speed beat, and "oh Barbie you're so fine you blow my mind."
The Kenergy kicks into high gear with Sam Smith's "Man I Am." With its thumping bass and "that's just the man I am/super sleazy, born to be easy/and all the papers say that there's no Ken without Barbie" this one just oozes with boys night at Ken's mojo dojo casa house, hopefully complete with choreography to it's utterly danceable beat. With a little bit of rock, a little bit of musical theater, a little bit of 90s synths, and a hell of a lot of overdramatic attitude, Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken" is an absolute stand-out both on Barbie The Album and in the movie. And the build with the "Can you feel the Kenergy?" in the background before opening into a hugely cinematic chorus is absolutely fantastic. Dominic Fike's "Hey Blondie" is a lighter, beachy-pop/rock track that nicely transitions from the high-powered, danceable tracks at the beginning of Barbie The Album to the next string of tracks.
HAIM's "Home" and Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" make up the slower-paced, more introspective tracks, mirroring Barbie's transformation over the course of the movie. Both are rock solid, easily independently successful tracks with the former's synthy drums and "could never stay the same/when everything felt so wrong/it led me to where I belong" and the latter's gentle vocals, piano, and "takin' a drive, I was an ideal/looked so alive, turns out I'm not real/just somethin' you paid for/what was I made for?".
The Kid LAROI's "Forever & Again" and Khalid's "Silver Platter" would be the perfect accompaniments to a cruise along the Barbieland coast in the Barbie Corvette. Both are slow grooves that act as simple but effective love ballads for a dream girl (Hi Barbie!), never going deeper than surface level, much like the man they're likely meant to be written from the perspective of (Hi Ken!).
The last punch of danceable fun on Barbie The Album comes with Ava Max's "Choose Your Fighter" and FIFTY FIFTY's "Barbie Dreams (feat. Kaliii)". Ava Max hardly ever misses with high energy pop tracks, and "Choose Your Fighter" is no exception with its poppy beat and clever Barbie references like "if you wanna go six inch or flat wanna wear hot pink or black/don't let nobody tell you you can't/'cause you can." "Barbie Dreams (feat. Kaliii)" sounds like every great 90s rom-com movie closer, perfectly modernized with a synthetic beat. And the soundtrack is tied up with a nice pink Barbie bow with "when I close my eyes, it's a fantasy perfect plastic life from a magazine/then when I wake up, it's reality/I can have it all, live my Barbie dreams."
Barbie The Album isn't one that always will get pulled off the shelf, but if I'm ever in the mood for a Barbie DreamHouse sleepover and pretending I'm in a pink paradise, this will be the first album I turn to.
AM I OBSESSED?
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