Day 10: Snow Angel- Reneé Rapp
Vocalizing the 20-something angst we all have
Note: This post is part of a series where I listen to an album each day in December. Past posts can be found on my substack. All hyperlinked songs go to Spotify links, Youtube links can be found at the end of the post.
Snow Angel, Reneé Rapp’s debut album via Interscope Records, navigates the drama, love, angst, and even pettiness that comes with being a 20-something. The pop album was released in August of 2023 and follows in the footsteps of other young pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo. Rodrigo’s Sour feels more like a teenager who is just getting their first taste of love, heartbreak, and freedom (think “Driver’s License”) and Carpenter’s music has a more traditional pop sound and lyrics about heterosexual relationships (think “Nonsense” and “Feather”) Rapp comes in as the cooler-queer-older cousin that’s more mature in her approach.
A large portion of the album is made up of ballads, but Rapp plays with brighter sounds on “Poison Poison” and “Pretty Girls.” Despite the upbeat production, “Pretty Girls” details the reality many sapphic women go through as they navigate pretty girls who wish to solely explore before returning to their heterosexual relationships. Rapp’s open dialog about her identity as a bisexual woman is important to the pop scene, especially for audiences who are constantly inundated with music solely focused on boys and girls. She paints a real picture and joins a group of artists like Hayley Kiyoko who are proud of their identity and make music inspired by their lived experiences. The centering of queer relationships in her music doesn’t alienate, Rapp is quite literally on a rocket upward, the openness about these situations is what gives her music a more mature edge that other popstars are missing.
Rapp’s edge also comes from the production choices made. Across the album there is a more mature sound, it isn’t cookie cutter and far from bubblegum, her music isn’t something I would feel childish for listening to because the quality and approach to her songs aren’t as commercial as some of her counterparts. Her song “Tummy Hurts” is a strong example, and what pulled me into this album. Despite the title, Rapp discusses the difficulty of dealing with a break-up and an ex who has moved on. She sings, “Maybe I should try religion/ ‘Cause Jesus, you’re hard to rely on/ I’d never find you in the kitchen/ Couldn’t even pay rent for three months/ Oh, I heard you, I get it, you’re broke/ But oh, you always had money to smoke, though” Having an unreliable partner is a relationship issue that occurs regardless of age, but the framing of its manifestation as the inability to pay rent shows her desire for her lyrics to reach an older audience. Listeners that are closer to her age and more likely to have experienced issues of this caliber. Though the subject matter and issues are ones a more mature audience experiences, the pettiness and anger in the song are universal. The chorus curses an entire bloodline saying “Now my tummy hurts/ He’s in love with her/ But for what it’s worth, they’d make beautiful babies/ And raise ‘em up to be a/ couple of/ F*cking monsters, like their/ mother and their father/ Eventually, 2043/ Someone’s gonna hurt their/ little girl like their daddy hurt me” Her anger is palpable and relatable. Coupled with her vocals that smoothly navigate through the melody, the song puts the listener in the phase of mourning that’s a mix of anger and sadness.
My only wish for “Tummy Hurts” was that the track was slightly longer to help develop a more complete feeling song. “The Wedding Song,” on the other hand, is a great showcase of Rapp’s ability to create a more sonically complete track, the journey through has a strong lyrical and production arch.
Overall, I’m excited to see what lies ahead for Reneé Rapp. Her vocals are arguably the strongest amongst the young popstars of this moment, and her pen is authentic, emotional, and even funny. I appreciate her style and truly feel she is making music for an older demographic who are still experiencing the turbulence of being a young adult, but not wanting the soundtrack of their twenties to be heavy-handed pop records.
Until Tomorrow,
Emily
Listen to Snow Angel on Youtube
Listen to “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo on Youtube
Listen to “Nonsense” and “Feather” by Sabrina Carpenter on Youtube
P.S. Reneé and Coco Jones did a remix of “Tummy Hurts” for Snow Angel Deluxe. I highly recommend listening, their voices complement each other so well.