Tag: The Hype House

Alex Warren – “You’ll Be Alright, Kid” review

California singer/songwriter, YouTuber & influencer Alex Warren releasing his full-length debut. Co-founding the Hype House collective of TikTokers, he would go on to sign with Atlantic Records in 2022 & teased the 2nd disc of this very LP last fall as a precursor of what we could expect to hear exactly 4 weeks after the Hype House’s disbandment. It’ll be almost 2 months since Addison Rae’s own debut Addison revealed herself to be the most musically talented of the crew & Alex looks to catch up by unveiling the full version of You’ll Be Alright, Kid.

“Eternity” was actually a decent intro culminating in adult contemporary, pop rock & pop soul singing about his father passing away when he was 9 whereas “The Outside” throws a hint of CCM in the picture asking for sign because he’s down & out of his mind. “First Time on Earth” opens up about the regret he has of holding his late mother to a perfect standard when she has her own flaws leading into the below average stomp & holler/country pop single “Bloodline” featuring Jelly Roll.

Alex’s past & memories that made him the person he is today moderately get recalled over the course of the pop rock track “Never Too Far” just before one of the worst singles of the year “Ordinary” whips up a generically corny & uninspired take on adult contemporary, stomp & holler, pop rock, pop soul & gospel. “Everything” works in some pianos to sing about feeling like he’ll lose it all if his wife Kouvr Annon leaves him just before “Getaway Car” obnoxious mutates stomp & holler with pop rock feeling like the Devil’s catching up to him.

“Who I Am” hooks up some occasional gospel choir vocals in the background with more pianos loathing in self pity wanting to know who he is in the eyes of his lover, but then “You Can’t Stop This” comes off as an overly preachy stomp & holler song about being unstoppable when the reception of his music speaks for itself. The final single “On My Mind” featuring ROSÉ was an adult contemporary stomp & holler duet that utterly fails at attempting to capture any form of chemistry between the pair to end Disc 1 while another pop soul, pop rock and stomp & holler single “Burning Down” addresses the Hype House’s demise.

Disc 2 continues with the country pop-tinged “Catch My Breath” singing about being off his head since the night he & Kouvr met on Snapchat while the open letter Alex penned to Kouvr on the day of their wedding “Carry You Home” feels ripped off from “Hey Brother” by the late Avicii swapping out it’s initial country pop & festival progressive house influences in favor or pop rock. “Troubled Waters” continues the torturous stomp & holler/pop rock mutations singing about the only thing he’s learned is that love leaves him while “Heaven Without You” promises he’ll have Kouvr’s heart in every lifetime.

“Before You Leave Me” makes another mediocre attempt at a stomp & holler/pop rock single singing about the concept of 2nd chances while “Save You a Seat” tries to go in an indie folk direction for a tribute to his parents. “Chasing Shadows” bites Lewis Capaldi a little finding himself missing his deceased mother & father while “Yard Sale” uses the concept of garage sales as a weak metaphor for letting go. You’ll Be Alright, Kid‘s title track puts an end to Alex’s debut by looking back on his 12 year old self wishing he knew back then everything would be alright.

Justin Bieber & Benson Boone both being named amongst Alex Warren’s biggest musical influences makes the most sense in the context of You’ll Be Alright, Kid being an equally unlistenable album as American Heart was a month ago & Swag surpassing them both by only a slight margin. It’s conceptually reminiscent of Chance the Rapper’s debut The Big Day with an adult contemporary stomp & holler twist, but the songwriting & vocals are more grating.

Score: 1/5

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Addison Rae – “Addison” review

Addison Rae is a social media personality, singer, actress & dancer from Lafayette, Louisiana know for temporarily being a member of the Hype House collective of TikTokers for a mere 5 months. Her debut EP AR was welcomed to moderate feedback & caught the attention of Columbia Records, who signed her following an appearance on the remix of “Von Dutch” off Charli XCX’s 6th album brat last summer. Coming off a string of well-received singles however, she’s taking it further on her major label debut.

We get a heavy dosage of dance-pop during the intro “New York” singing about her affinity for the City of Dreams itself whereas “Diet Pepsi” blends contemporary R&B, alt-pop, chillstep, alternative R&B & downtempo for a lead single calling back to Lana Del Rey’s 5th album Lust for Life. “Money’s Everything” takes a complete 360 from what “Diet Pepsi” did asking taking on a more satirical tone while “Aquamarine” combines dance-pop, deep house, garage house & melodic house to sing about her transforming & realigning.

“High Fashion” after the “Lost & Found” interlude fuses alternative R&B, alt-pop, post-dubstep, chillstep, future bass & wonky preferring the luxurious lifestyle over drugs leading into the breezy “Summer Forever” singing about loving Omer Fedi so much that she forgets what’s going on. “In the Rain” kicks the synthesizers into full gear turning her tears into gold until the dance-pop, electropop, synthpop & electro house track “Fame’s a Gun” recaptures the ethos of Sheila E.’s biggest hit “The Glamorous Life”.

The song “Times Like These” uses the sounds of contemporary R&B, downtempo, trip hop, alt-pop, UK street soul & alternative R&B to sing about her life moving faster than herself while “Headphones On” after the “Life’s No Fun Through Clear Waters” interlude finishes off with a trip hop, contemporary R&B, pop, UK street soul, alternative R&B & hip hop soul single sampling “What I Am” by Edie Brickell to touch base regarding situations that cannot be resolved.

Of the 2 full-length albums we have from the Hype House so far, Addison puts Huddy’s debut Teenage Heartbreak to shame by revealing Addison Rae as the most musically talented of the bunch by cooking up a more passionately conceived LP than Alex Warren’s recent singles ahead of his own debut You’ll Be Alright, Kid next month. We get a better understanding of herself with her background as a competitive dancer bleeds all over the production pulling from alt-pop, contemporary R&B, downtempo, dance-pop, alternative R&B, electropop, pop, trip hop, UK street soul, hip hop soul, electro house, synthpop, post-dubstep, chillstep, future bass, wonky, deep house, garage house & melodic house.

Score: 4/5

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