Brightest Blue | Review
4
By OASiSofficial
Brightest Blue
Start (with serpentwithfeet): A fantastic opener. Her voice is majestic, and the song feels nowhere close to 5 minutes. serpentwithfeet’s part feels somewhat unneeded. Ellie could’ve carried this song by herself. Otherwise, the lyrics, production, and her vocals are all present and fantastic.
Power: A fun 80’s throwback. Once again, the production and her vocals are very strong. Such an ear worm, this song is. Always stuck in my head. Glad it came out as a single before the album’s release, because it gave a good impression of what the album is.
How Deep Is Too Deep: A production heavy, bass heavy masterpiece. This is in my top 3 of Brightest Blue tracks, at number 2. It’s mesmerizing. I have almost no clue what the song is about, but I don’t need to. It’s just that good.
Cyan: An interlude worth listening to. The message is good. The production is good. Those backing vocals through the vocoder is so special, and makes the whole interlude what it is.
Love I’m Given: A fantastic single, but not what I listen to the album for. It shows off her vocals, and gives a good representation of the album as a whole. A song Ellie says “wrote itself” has great lyrics and a great message. However, it is an occasional skip, as I love the deep cuts in the album more than the radio-oriented tracks.
New Heights: A song that left me wanting more. I love the stripped back essence, and the lyrics are soft and easy-going. However, the chorus leaves something to be desired. It feels empty, and doesn’t show off her vocals the way I feel it could’ve. This is the most lackluster track off of the Brightest Blue album, but not EG.0 as well.
Ode to Myself: A gorgeous, beautiful, amazing interlude. Why this isn’t a full track, I don’t know. This should’ve replaced New Heights. This is one minute and fifty-one seconds of bliss.
Woman: A power anthem. A perfect power anthem. The way the chorus progresses. The violins. The... everything about this song. It is perfect. Still, it is not on my top 3. That is saved for some other tracks.
Tides: A welcoming switch-up in the album. Surprisingly, this was my least favorite on my initial listen. Now, it’s in my top 3. Probably number three. But still up there. It’s so innocent and freeing! Just a great, car ride kind of song.
Wine Drunk: An interlude. The best interlude on this album. The way Ellie uses the vocoder is so spectacular. The lyrics are so sad, so grieving, but yet, they seem to be covered up by the vocoder. Like they are supposed to be covered for a certain reason. In any case, it’s a fantastic interlude. Plus, it leads into my favorite track on the album.
Bleach: A perfect song. This song is perfect. The best song on the album. The production, the lyrics, her voice, it’s all perfect. Do I need to say anymore?
Flux: A ballad that needs no introduction. The first taste of Brightest Blue. Once it was in the album, everything made sense. It all clicked. I wish it was somewhat more dynamic, but her vocals more than make up for its flaws.
Brightest Blue: A title track that leaves me disappointed. I never enjoy songs with a choir, or backing vocals that aren’t of the artist. I had the same issue with “We Can’t Move to This” on Delirium. However, the hook/pre-chorus is impressive. The way she says it is fabulous. I’ll listen to it, but it is a frequent skip.
EG.0
Overture: An introduction to EG.0 that feels a little unnecessary. It does tie in the instrumentals on the two sides of the album, with the violins and the more pop-influenced tracks on EG.0, but, once again, it has a choir in the back, with no presence of Ellie whatsoever. It’s alright.
Worry About Me (with blackbear): A dry pop song. It seems Polydor Records wanted Ellie to get a spotlight in the true pop industry, but didn’t succeed. Anyways, this song was made. The chorus is bland, and blackbear’s appearance is nothing special. It follows the formula for a traditional pop song, and the production is lackluster.
Slow Grenade (with Lauv): A better... everything... version of Worry About Me. It’s quite catchy, the song is dynamic, and the production is top quality. It seems like care was put into this song, whereas Worry About Me was simply slapped around until it was released. Lauv was a great addition, and their voices went together very well.
Close To Me (with Diplo and Swae Lee): A great song if Swae Lee didn’t ever put his name on it. It’s a great pop song, and Diplo definitely did his thing with this song. Ellie worked really well with Diplo, it seems, because they made a great song. However, Swae Lee’s part can go into the trash. It’s so not good. Why did he have to be a part of this song? Still, it’s a good song.
Hate Me (with Juice WRLD): A best on the EG.0 side of this album. This song is great as a whole. The production is deep and punchy, and Ellie and Juice WRLD worked great together. I’m glad he had a long feature (in today’s world) on this song. It’s really a fantastic song, and the best on EG.0.
Sixteen: An alright song. Although it was not released on the original mix of Brightest Blue, it was later added, which it could’ve done without. Another somewhat failed attempt by Polydor Records.
Overall Review: Brightest Blue is a solid piece of work. I don’t think anything can be better than Halcyon, but I feel this is the closest we will get. It has many high points, and only a few low ones. I wish EG.0 wasn’t on the actual album, and maybe released as an EP on the side, because it somewhat brings down the album as a whole. However, counting only Brightest Blue, it’s definitely a 4/5. It’s strong. EG.0 is alright. Hate Me is a great song, and Slow Grenade is as well. All the others are just alright. I am overall impressed with Brightest Blue.
