On Oct. 23, pop singer Bea Miller released her latest album. The album, titled “elated!,” is a seven song piece of art that explores the trials and tribulations of life as a young adult. The songs focus on impulses, worries, pleasures and self image. While this album is relatively short and several of the songs on it had been released as promotional singles before the album officially dropped, it is a strong piece of work from the singer and has a real soul behind it.
The first song on the album, and arguably the best one, is titled “hallelujah” — a strong start for the album. Miller has never been known to shy away from discussing social issues in her songs and this one is no different. “hallelujah” is a song about feeling pressured by society to live and behave a certain way or being condemned otherwise. It discusses that many feel their own issues are small compared to the historical events happening around them and feeling lost as a young adult in modern America. This song has a satisfying beat and repetitive yet poignant lyrics, echoing worries about mental health during the pandemic, among other things.
She sings out in one verse, “It seems ridiculous to live in hell, but I guess that’s what we’re doing now / And maybe I should see a therapist / But the apocalypse is probably gonna take us out,” referencing that, to her, it feels like the end of the world.
The second song on the album is a remix of a single Miller had previously released. Titled “FEEL SOMETHING DIFFERENT,” a new take on the original single “feel something” that was released in June 2019, this song features rapper Aminé, intertwining new lyrics into the original song. While this song is gorgeous and has a relaxing and lo-fi tune to it, it is pretty much the same as the original, just with the addition of Aminé’s lines. In my opinion, the lack of originality makes this song the weakest for the album, but that doesn’t, by any means, make it a bad song. The song, while again having rather repetitive lyrics, is strangely tranquil for its subject matter. The original song was released in the midst of nationwide lockdowns when many people felt alone, lost and empty.
The lyrics echo that sentiment, ringing out angelically “I just wanna feel something, I just wanna feel / Something really real, so that I can really / Feel like a person again.”
While the rest of the songs on the album are all very good, one of the best is the fourth song, “making bad decisions.” The song is almost like a waltz, very on beat and ever moving. It focuses on impulsive decisions based on what you may want versus what you need. The tune is energetic and upbeat, contrasting well with the heavier content matter of the song.
“elated!” is a wonderful album from Miller, composed of some of my favorite songs from her yet. It is especially impressive that most of this album was composed, recorded and produced during the initial lockdowns due to the pandemic. “elated!” is full of honesty, heart and worry, and is truly a magnificent feat of emotion and musical talent.
