LIFE SUPPORT - MADISON BEER ALBUM REVIEW

This week saw the release of Madison Beer's long-awaited debut album Life Support.

It seems like Madison Beer's name has been floating around the industry for years, because it has, however after complications with labels and other delaying issues, it's taken nearly 8 years for Beer to release her official debut album.

Life Support is a very long album at 17 songs long but that's likely as it's been so long in the making, but this is counteracted by the short length of each song, with only about half clocking in at over 3 minutes long.

Life Support opens with 'the beginning'. 'the beginning' is a great opener, which immediately shows of beers luring vocals and harmonising, and clearly introduces to us that the album is going to be a full production.

The album moves swiftly into the previously released 'Good in Goodbye', which is a catchy pop song with clever wordplay and a really nice bassline throughout the chorus. The development of this album took a long time so 'Good in Goodbye' has been out for some time but it doesn't take away from what is a pretty great song.

'Default' heads more into a ballad and away from the pop we're used to with Madison Beer. Orchestral sounds add to the emotional rawness of the song. Default' presents a really impressive combination of modern and classic sounds, with orchestrals transitioning into juxtaposing electro sounds. The song is incredibly short which is a shame because it had a lot to offer even in the short amount of time and could easily have been 4 minutes long. Its sharp cut-off point does add another layer of intrigue.

Throughout Life Support there's a mix of sounds which range from sinister and haunting, along the lines of Billie Eilish, to 90s influenced pop with impressive vocals which are more in the realm of Ariana Grande. However, despite these comparisons, Beer seems to fit in between existing pop sounds and has created a realm of her own.

This variety is seen throughout the songs in the middle of the album, with no track really sound similar to the previous or the next.

With 'BOYSHIT' and 'Baby' we take a journey into the classic 90s inspired pop sound. There's a clear transition from heartbreaking and down-and-out themes of early in 'Life Support', to a build in confidence and ownership of sexuality which is a great story to tell through the album. With zinging lyrics like 'I don't speak boyshit' and "If you wanna be my baby, know I'm gonna drive you mad / Probably gonna call me crazy, I'm the best you've ever had" it's clear that Beer went into these songs with an infectious attitude. These songs aren't the best lyrically, but they are incredibly catchy and have a good beat to them, so they don't feel too out of place with the standard of the rest of the album.

After the brief transition to pop, we head back into intriguing emotional songs for the rest of Life Support, which again, showcase Beer's impressive vocals and experimentation with instrumentals and the introduction of other sounds, like the glass shattering in 'Stained Glass' and the sound of a letter being written and ripped up in 'Emotional Bruises'.

'Channel Surfing' acts as a nice definite finale to the album. almost like an end credits scene, with applause at the end. You don't often see such a definitive closing track on an album, so it's something different that really adds to the album despite literally being its closing moments. 

Overall, Life Support is an impressive debut from Madison Beer. There was no specific road it took, with the only consistency throughout the songs being that they were consistently good. Beer has inserted herself into a sub-genre of pop that is different from everyone else, whilst clearly taking inspiration from many others on the scene today. There's no doubt that Life Support is a great album, and it'll be interesting to see whether Beer experiments further on later releases or if she homes in on her personal style.