Rebecca Black: Let Her Burn track by track review

You will likely remember Rebecca Black from the infamous viral video for her song 'Friday', a song so infamously bad that she was mocked and ridiculed for a while. She has been determined to bite back in recent years, shedding off the weight of that song in an attempt to become a credible artist and free herself from the contempt others hold her in.

Her debut album is called 'Let Her Burn' and we thought we'd go through it track by track.

 

Erase You

Rebecca Black is thinking about lashing out on this song, as she looks to rid herself of the memory of someone but struggles. A rapid drum beat comes out of nowhere as the synth explodes like flames around it. Her vocals at points contain an unnecessary level of auto-tuned distortion.

 

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Destroy Me

It feels like this track is on the periphery of hyper pop on this song, with glitchy vocals coming in throughout. The high bpm of the track makes for an intense listen. It still doesn't feel as gripping as it should do however and the repeated vocal from the chorus gets old quickly.

 

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Misery Loves Company

A song that treads loneliness and desire, Rebecca is crying out for meaningful companionship that has the right mixture of lust and love. The production is slightly too understated, to the point where the moments where we're expected to feel a rush don't really land as they should. 

 

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Crumbs

We're greeted by slightly demonic growls on this one, harsh record scratches can be heard throughout on this song that embraces a dark aesthetic. There's not been too much in the lyrics yet to suggest that Black is a potent writer capable of providing interesting perspectives or generating excitement. Lust is a well-tread ground within pop at this point and you do wonder if this is slightly too formulaic.

The production towards the end however does offer the edge that the lyrics lack, constantly twisting and distorting. 

 

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Doe Eyed

This feels like a Charli XCX B-side, the augmented vocals are there and the highly-percussive beats but it doesn't feel the same. Black doesn't have the winking self-awareness that makes Charli XCX's songs so fun. 

 

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Sick To My Stomach

"I don't even miss you", Black is keen to emphasise here, but it's a facade as she still pines for this other person and now cannot stand to see them falling in love again. Again, we're met with cliche, leaving questions about Black's ability to put a fun or interesting take on well-tread narratives.

 

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What Am I Gonna Do With You

A fiery riff is something to immediately grab our attention with. It feels like one of the most interesting instrumental backings so far. It at least has more of a flare for drama than the other songs so far. There's a lot more dynamism to the way the instruments are played, they feel like an extension of the feelings projected in the lyrics.

 

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Cry Hard Enough

Whyyyy must we be dropped back into blandness. It honestly feels like this song forgets that it's playing at one point and it eventually just breaks back into a generic drum loop. It's very easy to check out of this album's narrative. 

 

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Look At You

A song about seeing people for who they really are and uplifting those who have been through heartbreak. "She's got nothing on you, I hope you see that" she says in reassurance. There's a satisfying lick of guitar about halfway through. 

 

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Performer

Describing herself as having to bury her true self deep down, she fears no one really knows her. We've gone acoustic now and we get all the usual cliches that entails such as string scratches. Worried that her job as an entertainer is blurring her sense of self, there's a sense that she wants to break free of that. It's hard to argue that Black's vocals are even very good, they're just simply fine.

 

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This album has been billed as a bit of a redemption arc and with flashy visuals and high production values, you'd think that would be the case. But upon listening to 'Let Her Burn', you'll realise that an artist who has been through so much online abuse and has bounced back from a difficult position still has absolutely nothing to say. Romantic notions of lust and desire are the bread and butter of pop music and there's no fun or interesting perspective pushed here, just unremarkable and flat beats with an equally uninteresting voice at the centre.

 

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