Cape God - Allie X: Review
is a Canadian pop singer who has been around for quite a long time for this to be only her second studio album. She released CollXtion II in 2017 but Cape God feels like more of a proper introduction, though its releases seemed to be over-taken by a number of other popular records and singles.
Review By Lavender:
I've never been the biggest Allie X fan in the world save for a spare single here and there. I didn't even properly review her first record because I heard it a ways after she first released it and it just didn't click with me. Given that this feels like a more proper record, and surprised me with both Troye Sivan and Mitski features I thought I should give it a proper listen. But not only did I find Allie X completely drowning in the wake of other pop stars sounds, but not even doing so particularly well.
The record had only one proper single that I actually did catch back when it came out, and I should have known how predictive it would be of the record. Devil I Know is a song that is trying really hard to be Billie Eilish, but Allie is singing like shes Camila Cabello. The vocal harmonies just do not match with the bassey instrumental or ethereal backing vocals and nothing really works when its all said and done. Sarah Come Home is another track that isn't terrible but it is so obviously trying to be Ariana Grande. But not the newest best version of Ari like a 4 years ago Dangerous Woman Ari and it just sounds kind of sad in 2020. June Gloom is a sad girl Marina And The Diamonds song that I really can't stand. It's just such an obvious attempt at recreating the really specific style of an artist that I can't give it much of any credit or merit.
When she isn't directly ripping one or more artists off Allie still finds ways to make some of these tracks relentlessly boring. Regulars is a super generic bouncy pop tune with a totally flat breathy chorus that gets completely overtaken by the instrumental and just feels kind of pointless. Love Me Wrong was a disappointing tepid love ballad between Allie X and Troye Sivan. The two have no chemistry whatsoever and try to disguise it with a grand instrumental but the result just falls really flat. Life Of The Party features a really rough vocal performance that is super underwhelming, and while the lyrics seem to let out some genuine emotion you definitely couldn't tell from anything else in the song. The worst track of the bunch by far is Super Duper Party People which kicks off with synths that sound like the presets you would hear going off at a local music store. The weird wanna be St. Vincent lyrics and delivery absolutely do not work and the result is a weird messy future disco song that absolutely sucks and is almost impossible to sit through.
Fresh Laundry is a decent track that reminds me of something from the last Kimbra record with its warped strings and slow paced songwriting, it gets the record off to an alright start at least. Susie Save Your Love is another alright song even though I feel like Mitski is a little bit underused. The instrumental is sharp with some wailing guitars and icy synths that help round the track out. Madame X is a solid ballad that I believe is an allegory for some kind of drugs as those themes tend to pop up all around the record. The song itself is certainly pretty but the chorus could definitely be a lot more rewarding.
I did come away from the record really enjoying a pair of songs however. Rings A Bell features an instrumental with spacey basslines and clackering percussion that makes for a really cool sonic palette. Allie isn't going too hard on the vocal end of things but I don't think the song calls for it and when it all settles down I enjoy the track quite a bit. The closing track Learning In Public is a slightly underwhelming choice as the finale of the album but in isolation I actually think the song is quite good. It has numerous catchy refrains and a bouncy fun beat, but it also has some tangible personality and shows us one of the few glimpses we get on the record into who Allie X actually is as an artist.
Cape God has its moments but as an artistic statement it is just a messy, underwhelming record that sees Allie X playing catch-up with so many of her pop piers. The record flip flops between sounds and has almost no artistic identity, which makes it one of the more boring pop records I've listened to in 2020. 3.5/10
