Trouble by Natalia Kills
Album: Trouble
Artist: Natalia Kills
Release Date: September 2, 2013
Label: will.i.am/Cherrytree/Dandyville/Interscope
Genre: Pop/Electronic rock
Trouble is the sophomore release of English singer Natalia Kills. Her first album was released to mixed reviews and is generally considered to be lighter than this release- which includes more rock elements and heavier beats.
The opening track “Television” washes over you with static, a dead-cold heart thumping as a bass and tells us that we don’t know what love is. It’s a great way to start the album, and then it cuts- like changing a channel- to a more upbeat and rocking track. While I don’t care much for the static transition, I do like the second part to this song. The entirety of this track you can imagine a music video, a dark night in the city and a group of girls going around and having fun, causing trouble. I don’t know how the first part of the song connects to the later part thematically, but that’s nitpicking, because it sounds like it’s connected. Then the sirens ring in and “Problem” starts playing. Natalia sounds like an English Katy Perry, if Katy Perry wasn’t afraid to be a fucking badass. The track is loud and heavy, but it retains its pop sound. She sings like she’s pissed about how many times she’s heard that she’s a problem. Singing some of these songs must have cathartic for her. The song keeps the theme of city life- in my head anyway. I imagine this whole album taking place at various parts of New York City (I know it doesn’t, but I’m trying to relate).
“Stop Me” is the song I want to hear on the radio tomorrow. It has all of the qualifications to be a top 40 single, but it’s edgy, spiteful, and sung beautifully. We get the idea by this song that she really feels these angry feelings and abandoned emotions, and this is her singing from her heart and soul. When other people sing about running away or dancing, it’s superficial, but when she sings about, she’s really singing about escape, and we’d be crying if the song didn’t make you want to dance so much. “Boys Don’t Cry” sounds like retro-pop, but then makes it sound new with clever guitar, heavy beat, and static additions. The song reminds me of a darker “Teenage Dream” – sorry for the multiple Katy Perry references, but that’s what I hear. Also, I can’t help but smile when she says in her sexy spoken word voice “what is the limit, really?”
The song “Daddy’s Girl” starts with and then riffs off of Hall & Oates’s “Rich Girl,” adding her own feelings about growing up with “daddy.” She is explaining a man that she loves, whether it be a boy or her father, who’s involved in gangster activities. It’s a cute song, and written very well. “Saturday Night” pays respect to 80s dance music, but at the same time she sings like Lana Del Ray. I don’t know how I feel about this song. It’s introduction was cool, but the sound to this song is derivative, not expanded like the other songs on this album, of modern pop music. It’s nothing special in a world dominated by this kind of music. Don’t get me wrong, I like pop music, this album is very good, but this song is a letdown.
“Devils Don’t Fly” is an emotional pop (I’m going to keep ambiguously using this term) song that almost moves into R&B-style music. It’s clear through this and other songs that she has a rather negative view of herself, or rather she’s afraid of having lived a sinful life. Does she care or not? We don’t know, but it does occupy her mind enough to write songs about it, and this one is golden. Then “Outta Time” keeps that similar theme from “Devil’s Don’t Fly,” where the guy just can’t come back to the girl (her) for whatever reason. Although this song doesn’t use as much metaphor as the previous one, I prefer this song much more. I like the style more and the lyrics flow better. I wasn’t super crazy about the R&B crossover in the other song (I’m not a big fan of people trying to add other genres into one song, unless it’s done extremely well or it at least has its own section in the song, such as Between the Buried and Me, a prog metal band I like very much adding country or polka sections to their songs).
“Controversy” blasts its beat like a tribal rhythm, and the lyrics and singing style are reminiscent of Azaelia Banks’s bad work if her bad work was actually cool. This track is seedy and dark and it perfectly describes the modern High School and its tortures (at least American ones), and although it says that this isn’t high school, it is able to translate the parties and the pressure of going to them and doing things you don’t want to. It’s not an educational song, but it’s a damn scary WAKE UP THIS IS REALITY IT HAS CONSEQUENCES track. It’s easily one of the most relatable songs for angst-ridden teens and immature twentysomethings.
The song “Rabbit Hole” has a weird lead instrumentation, the backing music is made up of something like a bubble popping. The song just makes you want to move around and the lyrics are so dirty you can’t help but grin (or be disgusted, whichever kind of person you are). It’s edgy and it just adds another good song to this album’s repertoire. “Watching You” is another ballad-like track about a boy who broke her heart, with lyrics that grab your heartstrings and play you like a harp. I personally relate to this song, not entirely, but some motifs and specific lyrics affect me, as I’m sure they will many people. The refrain’s “ohhwhoaa!” is just tormentingly sad, but in a beautiful way.
“Marlboro Lights” is another sad personal song. I know how sentimental I was on the last song, but too much of a good thing is still too much. Does she think she’s Adele? How many songs can she have about men (or one man)? It’s a beautiful song, I’ll be honest, I just question the number of these kinds of tracks on a single album. The final track is “Trouble,” a song similar in theme to “Problem,” but it’s sung war-chant style now and it’s a great way to end the album. It feels like it’s really taking everything that makes this album HER album and combining it into one track. There aren’t many other closers as satisfying as this one.
You’ve found one of the best new pop artists around now. She’s smart, she’s witty, sexy, dark, emotional, powerful, and she knows how to make you move your body. This is a collection of songs that for the most part just fit, and every song stands out as its own, which almost never happens. Even if some songs are similar in theme, they all sound like different, individual, and personal songs. It’s just the right length, the right number of tracks, and the right performer.
Best tracks: “Problem;” “Stop Me;” “Boys Don’t Cry;” “Outta Time;” “Controversy;” “Watching You;” “Trouble”
Not so great tracks: “Saturday Night” (Ironically, because it was apparently critically lauded as her best track to date. I’m not playing Devil’s advocate, I just wasn’t a fan)
FINAL RATING: 8/10
Tags: albums, elecronic, natalia kills, pop, rock, september, trouble
