Reneé Rapp, whose song “Too Well” became the quintessential Gen Z anthem in the span of a couple of months, has soared to stardom with astonishing speed.
Rapp’s trajectory changed dramatically in the past few years. From leaving her indelible mark with a Broadway debut in Mean Girls in 2019, to commanding attention through her role in Mindy Kaling’s comedy series Sex Lives of College Girls just two years later, Rapp has channeled her whirlwind experiences into the propellant driving her most passionate endeavor: her burgeoning music career.
But here’s the twist: while most stars might burn out under such rapid ascent, Rapp has harnessed her momentum to not only fuel her growing music career but also turn the spotlight onto the experiences that matter most to her. This exciting journey culminates with the release of her debut full-length album, Snow Angel, showcasing her evolution as an artist who has harnessed her diverse talents to truly shine.
In the aftermath of her debut EP that propelled her into pop-stardom, the question that naturally arises is: Does Snow Angel ascend beyond the heights of her EP, Everything to Everyone, or does it offer a whole new dimension to Rapp’s musical odyssey?
With Snow Angel, the pieces fall into place with a similar clarity — though not too sharp a clarity, for Rapp encompasses a spectrum of experiences and emotions. She’s introspective, witty, unguarded, defiant, tenderly exposed, revealing her most delicate emotions with a fragile yet resolute strength. As the album takes us on this journey, one can’t help but recognize the multitudes within her music and her powerfully soft vocals.
However, a sense of incoherence could strike at first listen given the spectrum of different genres the range of tracks traverse. Some might even consider it a weakness, stemming from a lack of consistency in the representation of a singular genre throughout the album — leading to moments where the diversity of sounds becomes slightly overwhelming.
Snow Angel weaves through an array of sonic landscapes, from extreme poppy hits rattling the grounds with “Pretty Girls” to the introspective bedroom pop akin to Olivia Rodrigo’s style with “Talk Too Much”. The album gracefully also ventures into bossa nova territory with “Poison Poison” and flirts with an almost ambient R&B soouond, exemplified in songs like “Willow.” However, this album promotes a sense of refusal to confine itself to a single musical category; instead, it embraces a genre-blurring ethos that resists grand, epiphanic homage to any specific classification unlike her clearly defined cathartically pop EP.
Overall, her debut album solidifies this ongoing trend of songwriter-driven pop and positions Reneé as an artist of remarkable caliber who fearlessly embraces her authentic self, empowers a global community with her queer anthems and unabashedly calls out her exes with statements like “yes, I am a feminist. But, bitch, you’re makin’ it so hard for me to always be supportin’ all women.”
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