Madison Beer dropped Locket a few days ago, her third album and easily her strongest. She wrote, sang, and produced almost all of it herself, taking everything that worked on 2023’s Grammy-nominated Silence Between Songs and pushing it further. The eleven tracks bounce between bright, upbeat dance moments and quieter, more intimate songs, but her voice ties it all together. It’s clear, powerful, and never hides the emotion behind the lyrics.
Some songs stand out right away. ‘Angel wings‘ has a catchy hook and a slightly offbeat bedroom-pop sound. Beer goes into her falsetto for lines like “He’s dead to me / How else do I answer when they check on me? / Thought that you and I would’ve had everything / It’s easier pretending you have angel wings…”. The outro then shifts into a chopped-up, experimental beat that’s a great surprise. ‘You’re still everything’ is slower, with gentle synths and layered vocals. The lyric “I only exist in the moments you’re talking to me / if we can’t be together then I’ll just go back to sleep / wish I was something to you, baby you’re everything to me” really hits. The singles ‘Bittersweet‘ and ‘Yes Baby‘ already showed her range. Madison Beer said about ‘Bittersweet’: “I can be bitter over things, but I’m choosing to be bittersweet.” ‘Yes Baby‘ is playful and flirty, with sharp percussion, similar to her older song ‘Make You Mine‘.
The album always feels cohesive, even when the tempo changes. Small production touches, like distorted sounds, stacked vocals, and airy layers, show up throughout the songs and link the upbeat tracks to the quieter ones. The main themes are memory and dealing with pain. The differences between songs make the album stronger, showing different sides of the same story.
Stream Locket:
