The life of a fan is filled with both tension and elation. Years can be spent between albums (unless you’re a Taylor Swift fan) and if they’re a smaller act then the likelihood of being placated with a tour in your city is slim. The album cycle is important. Even if you don’t care for a lead single in terms of where it charts, the right single can kick off the album with a bang, leave you feeling distraught at the new sound, or worse, it leaves the “era” in a state of limbo where you have no idea when the end point is (Chloe and SZA found their way to the light. Other’s had their torch blown out and can’t find the end).
A sophomore album from an artist might not make or break their career but it does tell fans where they can expect to go with that artist in the future. Stars like Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Dua Lipa all had sophomore albums that found them luxuriating in a sound that they found and crafted to work perfectly for them. Timberlake enhanced the sound that Danja crafted with Nelly Furtado into a sleeker and edgier electropop that would later inspire Britney Spear’s Blackout while Beyoncé found herself going back to the sounds of old to combine with modern day hip-hop that would become the bedrock of the “Beyoncé sound”. Dua helped craft an 80s dancepop trend with some disco elements that was largely uninteresting except in that she made a sound for herself. Kendrick helped create one of the most pivotal hip-hop albums ever that served as the launching point for his next works. These are all examples of sophomore records that help keep a star alive and well. It launches them further into the stratosphere of stardom.
Today we’re talking about the sophomore slump. An unfortunate occurrence in music (and other places of entertainment). A yearslong wait that results in a tepid, bland, or confusing record that can leave fans, critics, and bystanders confused as to what they’re looking at. It’s an album that fails commercially, critically, or both. Or it alienates original fans with attempts to sellout to get more money and success. It also might be an album that feels like songs that you’ve already heard before from them. Sophomore slumps have actually been studied both psychologically (earlier success means less effort put in) and statistically (regressing towards the mean — or average).
Sophomore slumps are always painful but you also have the rare fourth album curse, the comeback third album, and in some cases the reassessment of a slump into cult classic. Let’s look at a few of my “favorite” slumps this decade:
DISCLAIMER: You may like the albums I’m about to talk about or you may not but while commercial and critical reception are considered, it’s really just a list of recent sophomore albums that I had a lot of anticipation for and did not enjoy and was very let down by.
Happier Than Ever Billie Eilish
An album with three top 10s and 238,000 units sold in the first week may not seem like a slump at first but the underlying emotions of the era were something that required you being there. “My future” and “Therefore I Am” were both released before Billie shocked the world with her excellent blonde dye job and both did well but they didn’t carry the same conversations that “Bad Guy”, “Ocean Eyes”, or even “Everything I Wanted” had. They felt like retreads of songs that we already liked and “My Future” lasted seven weeks on the charts before disappearing, not a great sign for a lead single, you want those to get at least twenty weeks in today’s climate. They were also released with the green hair roots instead of seeming uniform with the blonde hair of the era. I honestly thought they were one and done singles. “Your Power” was released with a video that she directed and with the blonde hair. It understated and heartbreaking and was met with empathy from critics and celebs alike but had a rather lukewarm response from fans. It debuted at number 10 but fell off six weeks later. You see a running theme here with people not wanting to listen to her music. People needed a jump from Billie. A song that could at least get you to bob you head and move your neck. Enter the “Lost Cause” teaser video.
The teaser had Billie and her friends looking casual and happy and screaming “BUT YOU GOT NO JOB!” which everyone took to mean that we were getting the banger of the era. The “Bad Guy” that might even end “Bad Guy”. That’s not what happened. The song came out and everyone got pissed off. The video and teaser were misleading in the sense that the song is a very relaxed sound that doesn’t do much to bring excitement to anybody at anytime, much less when the era is starting to derail. I read somewhere that Billie said she chooses her own singles…Interscope needs to dead that. (Stars sometimes get the single right and other times they get it very wrong) The video also had the most inane accusations of queerbaiting with Tik Tok trends of ripping Billie Eilish posters from your walls and saying how disappointed you are in a hazy cloud of teenage angst and self-righteousness. It was mad lame. And blatantly incorrect (that’s not what queerbaiting means) but that didn’t matter, it took the train that was the Happier Than Ever era and conducted it off a bridge. “Lost Cause” peaked at 39 and lasted for 5 weeks becoming a massive bomb and having diehard fans declare the era as a flop.
I loved Billie’s first album and was excited for the second one. I initially hated the second album but slowly began to appreciate it. Especially after hearing the title track, a song which should’ve come after “My Future” went nowhere and she debuted her blonde hair. It was screaming for a proper single treatment. Unfortunately, people lost interest and it peaked outside of the top ten. The album and its singles also do not have an certifications and it only got two rather perfunctory Grammy nods and failing to get either.
SLUMP!
Surface Sounds KALEO
16 year old Johnny didn’t have a strong idea of what his favorite music was. If you asked him he would say 4 by Beyoncé, random indie pop songs, random rock songs and the RapCaviar page on Spotify. But an old friend offered me a ticket to see a band for $40 in a week. He really offered it to a huge groupchat and nobody was biting and I felt bad. I did not have the money for that chile. But I listened to their music and was impressed. Their debut international album, A/B, had come out just a month before that and this Icelandic band with only two international singles had amassed enough attention to perform in North America. Highly impressive as one single went double platinum and a single after the album was released was nominated for a Grammy (“No Good” should’ve won). I say debut international album because they got famous in 2012 for a cover of "Vor í Vaglaskógi" that got them radio attention and a record deal and apparently went number one 5 different times in Iceland from their self titled debut but I can’t find any information on their Wikipedia page about the album and "Vor í Vaglaskógi" ended up being on the 2016 album…highly confusing so we’re saying A/B was the debut. Anyways, I go and the concert is amazing, one of my favorite performers I’ve ever seen. The frontman, Jokull Juliusson, has massive pipes with a nice gravel to it that doesn’t sound like smoker’s voice or damage. I was hooked on the album for years, even after I found my own sense of musical identity, A/B stayed.
So naturally, I was excited for their sophomore effort that was scheduled for April 5th, 2020. The lead was a double single, “I Want More” and “Break My Baby”, the latter is fun to sing and I like both the studio and live acoustic version, “I Want More” sucks and he sounds drunk in the studio. I hate poor studio vocals, sorry but pull a Taylor and clean your shit up. It’s why “Higher” by Rihanna will never hit for me, you can’t sing and then you gone set yourself up at the mic drunk? Don’t piss me off. Anyways, the album was postponed, presumably so they could tour off of it, but that didn’t happen so they dropped it exactly a year later with a few more singles to try and garner more anticipation.
You can ask all of my best friends who I discuss music with, I do not like this album. Every time I consider thinking about the album I think of that Nene Leaks quote where she asks Kandi to check around Puerto Rico to find a studio and drop some beats. This was five years in the waiting and I was left irritated, unimpressed, and unwilling to even contemplate going to the tour. Not only do I hate it but so do the fans. There’s not a single track from this song in their Spotify top 5, none of the singles charted anywhere but Iceland and there aren’t any available certifications anywhere in the world. It doesn’t help that they release so sparingly but I feel confident in saying that KALEO being a prominent rock band is dead in the water.
SLUUUMP!!
Hold The Girl Rina Sawayama
Rina, Rina, Rina.
Where to begin…Rina Sawayama is a Japanese-British artist that has an eclectic musical palette. She garnered a minor online following with her electro R&B EP that tackled various cyber themes and ideas. It received massive critical acclaim for a debut indie EP that took her working three jobs to release, it was a triumph. She signed with Dirty Hit records in 2020 and her debut album Sawayama came out in the same year.
At first, I saved the album art cause the cover was very slay but Apple Music’s albums in the Alternative section always failed to be something I enjoyed so I didn’t press play for about twelve hours. Then I saw my whole timeline talking about it and in my head wondered when everyone started listening to alternative music. It was enough peer pressure that I streamed and found myself loving what I heard. From Britney inspired pop in “XS” to UK inspired rock on “Who’s Gonna Save U Now?” to a whole ass metal song with a bridge that begs the listeners to “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” It gave all of my favorite genres (not metal but it’s still a pretty great song) a pop sheen to it that was very fun. Her performing was also a diamond in the rough and I was excited to watch her grow. I even had tickets to see her in Philly but me and a friend went clubbing in New York instead. I got a new jacket from that and lost my phone so…party?
So when Hold The Girl was announced with this concept of “UK genres that didn’t pop in the US and US genres that didn’t pop in the UK”, I was very excited. This had potential to be a definitive pop record. The cover art came out and she looks a plum fool but it’s kind of camp so I let it slide. The lead single, “This Hell”, was…okay to me. I could see my TL warring with how they felt. It wasn’t enough to keep my excitement fully but I wasn’t going to write her off just yet. The day I decided to stream “Catch Me In The Air” was the wrong one. It did nothing but put me in a more sour mood but I decided to give it a week and come back and see how I felt. It didn’t change. “Catch” felt so vapid, I was left wondering if she was playing with me. The title track being released a month later didn’t do much to change my mind. When the album came out, I was ready to see if I had been so I listened with an open mind, an open ear, and an open heart. I found out she was playing with me.
For me, the strongest songs come in a three part punch that made me think maybe the last half of the album is where the flavor is. It wasn’t. However, “Your Age”, “Imagining”, and “Frankenstein” are all very enjoyable songs and I love the themes and concepts she’s experimenting with for those tracks.
This album did not flop, it actually debuted at number 3 in the UK. That’s pretty good, there’s potential for her to actually start making money from music. It also has an 84 on metacritic and half my mutuals love the album.
I don’t and this is my list so SLUUUUMP!
Tell Me That It’s Over Wallows
My favorite indie rock/pop band full of dorks. Their debut album Nothing Happens is certified gold with a double platinum hit with Clairo in “Are You Bored Yet”. Nothing Happens is just excellent. The transition from “Only Friend” to “Treacherous Doctor” is instant adrenaline. “Scrawny”, “Ice Cold Pool”, and “Remember When” all go HARD!! It’s a debut album full of bangers. I listen to it in full often and always end with a smile on my face and a desire for sunshine and springtime wind.
Their second album doesn’t give me that feeling. It doesn’t give me much feeling at all to be honest. I like all of the tracks but I don’t love them. A few lean too heavily into the corniness of it all which used to only be winked at. “Marvelous” is fun but it doesn’t really compare to how great “Treacherous” or “Remember” are. It doesn’t have the one hit of their debut and it didn’t really leave a lasting impression. If there’s anything worse than being bad it’s being boring. However, let’s call a spade a spade and acknowledge that Harry Styles was definitely digging in Wallow’s purse for his album. “As It Was” was a better sung Dylan Minette song. Harry using Wallow’s sound to put a down payment on his house, crazy! (I enjoy both)
Dylan Minette is still kingie but can’t you tell that this didn’t affect me as much as the other albums listed here? This one was the least exciting of the bunch even if I have most of the songs saved. They did have the absolute banger of a single “WISH ME LUCK” that had a very dark and gritty sound with echoes and nice electric riffs and wailing vocals. If they go in that direction for a third album then I’ll see them live (they’re not great). Unfortunately that single wasn’t on the album so…
slump :(.
Surrender Maggie Rogers
No offense to the white Christian girls, but I started tuning out their song suggestions when I figured out that most people suggest music that they’re currently touched by, not by what they think you’ll be interested in. It was a very frustrating experience not knowing that most people didn’t think you’ll actually stream whatever it is they tell you to and even more frustrating when I started mimicking that behavior but didn’t realize that nobody else was going to stream what I suggested. I really hate unspoken rules that aren’t explained by television, it always leaves me flatfooted.
An old friend I volunteered with drove me to Raleigh for a reunion and she had Maggie Rogers playing and told me that Pharrell said she was one of the most unique people he’s ever heard. I said that was a big deal and great for her then promptly forgot about her. I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it in the moment though…far away in the background.
Then I discovered “Say It” and “Alaska” and it was like that out of body experience in Doctor Strange 1 where I was like ohhhh what is this?? I discovered it when we were in a pandemic and couldn’t help but imagine days of sunshine and riding a pastel colored bike down the sidewalks at the beach to the songs. Just a breath of fresh air to the sounds and I liked her voice too. Indie pop music but not as forgettable as a lot of it can be. It was very distinct.
I’m not going to say Surrender was forgettable but I will say that I am on record with seeing her debut her haircut and immediately knowing that the synths from her first record were going to disappear and we were going to get more #grounded. And if there’s one thing I hate about pop artists, it’s when they do that! To be honest, when Surrender came out the same day as Renaissance, I knew it wasn’t going to connect at first because I was going to be busy! But then later I still found it lackluster and wondered where some of the whimsy went. I saw that Kid Harpoon was the main producer on every track alongside Rogers herself. But lord have mercy, Kid Harpoon will be around for at least five more years and it seems like we’ll just have to deal. He currently has the number 1 song in America with “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and had a huge song last year with “As It Was” by Harry Styles. The man is excellent at crafting a song that sounds interesting at first and then slowly starts to become background music — see a lot of Harry’s House, Surrender, Fine Line, and “Flowers” (we’re still streaming though). I will give him “Sweet Nothing” by Florence Welch and that’s it. (That Shawn Mendes album that nobody remembers? Kid Harpoon).
Surrender ultimately is what Rogers wanted to put out and it feels like a natural progression for her. It also got the critics more interested in what she had to say. I just hope some of the synths come back.
I’m all for artists exploring new sounds and facets of their artistry. I’m also down for them just being like “maybe this will sound cool” and it doesn’t and that’s fine. They can’t all be bangers. I’m also down to listen to a third album from all of these folks and with an open mind. This was mostly in good fun (not you KALEO) so I hope you all had a good laugh. Check these albums out, you may like them.
I thought I would see Rina Sawayama here! This Hell was just okay on first listen, but Catch Me In The Air and Hold The Girl were both loves at first listen for me, with both being number 6 and number 10 on my Spotify 2022 Playlist. I felt more affection for the song Frankenstein when I saw the great music video for it. Next month I want to relisten to the album and see if I like it more.
I've been thinking about Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Nas X in particular, since they had such big first albums, I'm not sure the second ones are going to live to the hype. But we've got a lot of music that's coming out this year, so we should be well fed either way.
"Hold The Girl" just... hurt.