On the subject of coping with stress or trauma, a coping mechanism helps keep emotional wellness. And in a post-pandemic world the place psychological well being is on the forefront, WILLOW’s <COPINGMECHANISM> is a well timed and clear physique of labor. Initially slated to launch late September, WILLOW’s fifth studio album lately arrived with rock-fueled vitality. The half an hour whirlwind options 11 songs, together with a collaboration with experimentalist Yves Tumor. <COPINGMECHANISM> is wholly spectacular with screamo vocals and pithy lyrics.
“I needed to go for rock. I didn’t need to go for pop punk. I didn’t need to go for what’s essentially common proper now,” WILLOW informed Billboard in an interview earlier this yr. “I needed to go for the center of rock music, which to me is a deep outcry — possibly about ache, possibly about pleasure.” Apparently, the album’s art work is an outline of an electrical guitar smashed right into a tv display screen. Maybe indicating each self-expression and musical evolution.
Learn extra: WILLOW talks about her influences, working with Avril Lavigne and extra
WILLOW started releasing music in 2010, on the age of 9, together with her bubblegum pop single “Whip My Hair.” After successful document and a musical hiatus, the previous tween idol experimented instrumentally throughout her adolescent years. WILLOW delivered her full-length debut Ardipithecus in 2015, her sophomore album The first in 2017 and her self-titled LP in 2019. In the end, making a solo comeback in 2021 together with her fourth studio album currently I Really feel EVERYTHING. The pop-punk launch, which pays homage to 2000s punk bands like blink-182, was a venturesome transition. Earlier than currently I really feel EVERYTHING, WILLOW’s sound ranged from alt-R&B and neo-soul to experimental pop and psychedelic-folk.
On <COPINGMECHANISM>, the 21-year-old components methods together with her pop-punk period and unleashes the bonafide rock star inside. The approaching-of-age album is clearly grittier and extra mature than her previous work, with inspiration from Evanescence, Paramore, Crowbar and Queen. WILLOW tackles frequent themes like love, heartbreak, therapeutic and isolation. “There is not any time for fight-or-flight/Suppose I am gonna freeze, no peace in my head,” she reveals on “WHY?” Sonically, WILLOW manages to seize a nostalgic really feel and progressive sound all through the album. Lyrically, she connects with listeners and herself concurrently, nearly like a type of melodic self-help. “As a result of life would not select both facet/Win or lose, proper or fallacious/It is a battle that is all in your thoughts/You higher open extensive,” WILLOW advises on “curious/livid.”
The album’s opener “possibly it’s my fault” kicks off the undertaking on an upbeat be aware. Unexpectedly, the tempo adjustments towards the second half with the breakup anthem “Cut up.” And the heavy-hitting nearer “BATSHIT!” reverts the album again to its metal-inspired roots. Climactic tracks embody the emotive bop “Falling Endlessly” and the self-explained ode to womanhood “hover like a GODDESS.” What makes these specific songs noteworthy are the catchy and bouncy life classes intertwined with epic guitar riffs. In truth, even in the event you aren’t a Gen Z-er coping with the ups and downs of life, the album has the facility to rekindle the vulnerability and awkwardness of younger maturity.
Because the offspring of famed actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and the youthful sibling of multi-hyphenate Jaden Smith, WILLOW’s uncooked expertise outshines the nepotism rumour. Though <COPINGMECHANISM> is not solely unique content-wise, there’s a newfound stage of confidence on this undertaking. Like her mom, the frontwoman of 2000s nü-metal band Depraved Knowledge, WILLOW is a pioneer at a time when younger Black girls in rock are a rarity.
