Review Summary: When gloss meets raw honesty
As I’ve mentioned recently, I’m quite fascinated with how
candid pop stars have become about their struggles and emotions in recent years. Or, to elaborate further, I suppose it’s more of an admiration for how these artists can juggle introspection with frank honesty. It’s as if the blunt in-your-face approach of 2008-era Lady Gaga and the contemplative tone of 2017-era Lorde have somehow merged, as our current crop of songwriters have normalized being open about previously taboo or uncomfortable topics. In fact, just a few months ago, Tate McRae’s debut album
I Used to Think I Could Fly was touching upon highly detailed accounts of emotional vulnerability and relationship woes; it almost made me feel like a voyeur as I was peering into very specific moments of McRae’s life.
Girl of My Dreams, the debut of American singer-songwriter FLETCHER (yes, in all-caps), operates in much the same way. The stage name of Cari Elise Fletcher, FLETCHER (ok, no more caps lock) is yet another product of the infamous money machine known as
The X Factor; she didn’t end up winning the competition, but earned enough good will and audience support to give her a launchpad for her career. And
finally, after seven years of releasing EPs and singles, we now have a full-length from the singer. Stylistically, the opener pretty much tells you what you need to know: “Sting” combines catchy hooks with forthright breakup lyrics, as Fletcher is clearly not over the split. On a musical level, there’s not much innovation to be found here; typical chord progressions, layered synth passages, a nice midtempo beat, and so on. But there’s some extra attention paid to dynamics, as the song really takes its time to fully develop and flourish; the opening minute provides just the right amount of space for Fletcher to establish the intent of the tune.
While we’re on that subject, dynamic contrast is something that
Girl of My Dreams actually pulls off quite well. These songs are short, but they often have little twists and turns that spice up otherwise cookie-cutter pop structures, as if to represent the tracks’ emotional peaks and valleys. “Birthday Girl” is a nice example, as its understated guitar lines allow small subtleties to shift through; a little bit of vocal harmonization here, some dramatic keyboard flourishes there, and it all helps illustrate a more detailed picture. Meanwhile, the musical/lyrical juxtaposition found on album highlight “Becky’s So Hot” is simply
exquisite. The energetic power-pop instrumentation is an effective way to mask this creepy, angry portrait of a jealous stalker; with each crunchy power chord that gets churned out, Fletcher seems to get more spiteful and desperate. Finally, a more subdued version of this concept follows in the form of “Better Version”, in which Fletcher laments about an ex-boyfriend who became more famous than her. She gets a nice jab in at the guy’s new girlfriend as well:
”Do you think of me when you fuck her?” Lyrically, a nice update on Alanis Morrisette’s classic tune “You Oughta Know''. Meanwhile, the music itself is quite lovely; light acoustic guitar chords are met with lush keyboard and vocal backgrounds, once again proving that the lyrics and music can clash effectively.
Fletcher was recently featured in an interview with
Billboard, in which she explained the reasoning behind much of what she writes and sings about
:
”To be able to have resources, or even just a person verbalizing the crazy s–t that we think about, or the phases of our life that we go through; I desperately needed that, and I set out from day one to be that artist.”
That quote is what forms the core of
Girl of My Dreams. Fletcher might have some growing up to do as a writer – the music itself is often quite formulaic and predictable, and follows a typical four-chord format – but the fact that she has no reservations about vocalizing complicated and difficult sentiments is what elevates the record as a whole. Wherever she goes from here, it’s nice to have someone who’s able to cut through the bullshit and walk through arduous emotional territory in such an unfettering way. If Fletcher can elevate her songwriting prowess to match her artistic intentions, I think she’ll have one hell of a strong career ahead of her.
