Going viral for his blue tongue back in 2021 after covering “In the Stars” and “Beautiful Things” after eating blue candy, Benson Boone’s journey as an artist didn’t have the most normal start. With 3 million followers on Instagram, 7 million followers on TikTok and 57 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Boone has shown his influence in social media platforms.
Hitting high notes, Boone is known for being a talented vocalist and meaningful songwriter. For example, “In the Stars,” released in 2022, was written after losing his great grandma, with whom he was very close. He wrote his overwhelming emotions into a song that individuals who have lost someone or something could listen to and relate to.
On April 5, Boone released an album, “Fireworks & Rollerblades.” Although the name sounds very upbeat, the mood of the songs in the album presented was completely different from what I was expecting.
The intro leads into “Be someone,” which was a nice touch since it made the album seem more like a story. The song seems to be a confession of love and has a nice catchy melody that is mellow. Most of Boone’s songs can relate to things other than love, but the song was very one-way, meaning I couldn’t interpret it other than from the view of lovers.
“Slow It Down” starts with a sad, heartbroken melody, but it transitions into more pop or R&B in the pre-chorus. The song talks about not overthinking things and allowing oneself to accept reality, always reaching out for help from loved ones, but in the view of accepting a lover. The meaning of the song was nice and went well with the mood of the song.
Another song in his album, “Beautiful Things,” was a single released early this year that I thought was about trying to remain a perfect picture with a perfect family, relationship and lifestyle. I’ve heard the song several times on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok thinking the song was catchy without knowing who wrote it. The song starts calm and mellow, but it has a climax during the chorus that increases the intensity and changes the rhythm. The song seems to have a subtle meaning and a nice vibe. Just like “Beautiful Things,” “In the Stars” and “Ghost Town” were also added from previous single releases.
Finally, “Cry” starts sad and bleak but has a nice transition to a more upbeat rhythm through a clip from behind the scenes when recording. Around 20 to 30 seconds into the song, the song stops and an audio of a voice asking to “speed it up” is played, followed by an unexpected change in tone and mood. The song’s melody is very similar to his other songs from the album and previous albums. I think it might be his style of music, but I had a hard time finding differences between the melodies and rhythm of his songs in his new album.
The songs’ lyrics allow the listeners to interpret the songs in different ways, which is really nice. On the other hand, the overall vibe and melodies of all his songs are very similar with a slow, calm start and an upbeat chorus or ending. This makes me question if he is stepping outside of the box or if this is the only style of music he can do. Overall, I recommend listening to this album when studying, and because it has music from his previous albums, students can make their way straight to “Fireworks & Rollerblades”.
