Album Review: Gabrielle Aplin - 'Dear Happy'
Gabrielle Aplin makes a huge comeback with ‘Dear Happy’. Five years have passed since she has released an album, and she has a new sound to bring in the new decade.
Sure, she has kept her dreamy, velvet soft voice, but has totally redesigned her sound for this new album. With an infusion of digitalised beats on most of the tracks, she returns into the mainstream with a confident sound. Through her album, Aplin explores the emotions that come with the ups and downs of love, mental health and finding yourself. It is for this reason that this album is definitely an important one to listen to in 2020.
The first track ‘Till the Sun Comes Up’ introduces the tone of the album perfectly; it encapsulates the serious issue of caring for yourself mentally, of letting worries go and having a great time with close ones. With a backdrop of catchy beats, the song is sure to get feet dancing.
Her album is a mix of summer anthems and delicate tunes, but the common denominator that is shared by all her songs is that her vocal capability is incredible. She is able to encapsulate the emotion of the song in her voice, something that is a very important thing when dealing with the subject matter that her album explores, and something that is sometimes put neglected in mainstream music.
Her second track on the album is ‘Invisible’, but you sure can see the appeal in the song (sorry). The song is explosive and powerful and is a track for when you’re feeling a little down in the dumps. Her powerful voice is continued throughout the fifteen track album, creating a piece of art that is pretty and delicate. She has a Selena Gomez-type tone, which is perfect for her floatier track ‘One of Those Days’. It is a song that brings to light the importance of recognising bad days and giving yourself a break, with lyrics like ‘one of those days where grace seems far away’ and ‘I feel so ashamed that I can’t face the day’. It highlights the often-stigmatized subject of feeling low, and helps to educate listeners on what it feels like. The low beats highlight a tone of seriousness and sends a positive message about opening up about mental health. The song is filled with angelic verses, keeping in the tradition of Aplin’s incredible vocal range. It ends on a minimalist note, which is a very fitting wrap up for the subject.
‘Kintsugi’ is a song that hits a little different when you listen to it; it is different to any song on the album through the incorporation of subtle kpop infusion within the chorus. This is a very metaphorical song with the lyrics of ‘all my scars are golden’ referring to the art of mending pottery with gold or silver, to create colourful lines where the pottery was once broken. It is a song about healing, and so is another important one to listen to.
‘My Mistake’ is a personal favourite from the album and explores being in a mental rut and finding strength in your own voice when battling your mind. She encapsulates this feeling with her signature beautifully pure vocals, which she uses to create a chorus that is hauntingly beautiful: ‘it’s funny how it changes, when nothing really changes at all’. This song is the one that sounds most similar to her previous album, giving fans of her debut something to sink their teeth into.
Her tune ‘Losing Me’ is interestingly the only collaboration on the album, with JP Cooper lending his talents to Aplin’s song. It brings perfect of harmonies along with techno beats, and is definitely worth a listen if you want to become more aware of yourself.
Track nine, ‘So Far So Good’ is a bop ready to get on the radio, as it will prove no doubt to be hugely popular. Its light and airy tone, which is one that is present through most of the songs on the album, make it a sure-fire anthem for the summer. Whilst previous songs have been about lost love and saddening mental health, this is a feel-good tune: ‘this is forever, how lucky am I’. This paired with ‘Nothing Really Matters’, the next songs on the album, which explores the importance of love in a world full of modern concerns. Its happy- go- lucky lyrics: ‘nothing really matters but you’ makes this a song that could easily be the backing track of a feel-good film.
The penultimate song, and also the name of the album, is a stripped piano with minimal instruments. This paired with her angelic voice and echoey effects creates a song that is floaty to listen to. The song is a plea for the good feeling of progression to stick around whilst you get fully better with: ‘dear happy don’t go, I’m not there but I’m close’. With powerful highs and lingering notes, it makes it the ultimate power anthem that makes you stand a little taller.
Overall, a strong return from Gabrielle Aplin, that is sure to top the charts.
Words by Alice Mason