With A Smile is like a poppy, cinematic journey. And that cinematic journey is a romantic drama. But one of those cliche romantic dramas where you know what’s going to happen, but you’re a fan of the genre so you continue watching until the end.
Kinda like me and scary movies. I know the virgin isn’t going to die, but I still want to see how everyone else does. Their deaths entertain me like an unknown boyfriend entertains you during your rom-droms.
Her choruses are like a combination of studio bullshit where twenty people sit in a room to come up with the same exact melody you’ve heard a million times before and someone who actually knows and appreciates music.
Basically, they’re catchy motherfuckers, but not in a way that you’ve heard before.
But there’s only so many catchy motherfuckers you can listen to before you want something different. Best Ex is really good at making songs with quiet verses and catchy choruses. Like, really good. So good, in fact, that that’s the only type of song she has on her album.
Highlights: as a youth, I was never bullied while listening to Jimmy Eat World. And Salt On Skin has such a pleasant vibe of JEW that I can’t help but love it. If you were ever bullied while The Middle was playing, you might not like this song. But if not, it’ll probably put you back in that good JEW mindset.
Tell Your Friends is another hit. It’s incredibly cinematic and easy to imagine as a soundtrack to a movie. And it’s early on enough in the album to where it’s still new and different so you’re still wondering what’s going to come next.
Lowlights: anything at the end. I don’t actually know if they’re bad or not, but I just got tired of hearing the same structure over and over and tuned out. I read some news, checked some emails, and did some work to try and get some difference going in my life.
Overall, I’m not giving it a fucking star rating, because it’s music. If you like cinematic, poppy, rom-drom type music, you’ll probably like this. If you like EDM metal, you probably won’t.
Me? I can listen to the first half easily. Then I’ll put on some Jimmy Eat World.
