Addison Rae has made an album for pop scholars. First, because she herself is. Second, because nostalgia partly moves the music industry. Third, because in ‘Addison’ he explores different ways of expression to explore in the future. But the best of ‘Addison’ is his good taste, the grace with which Addison addresses every style.
Addison has taken the necessary time to get here. Known for his Tiktok profile, where he popularized his dance videos, Louisiana’s – such as Britney – now based in Los Angeles has grown up soaking pop music. When he played his debut album, which, finally, was limited to an EP of 5 cuts, ‘AR’ (2023), one of the songs, ‘Nothing on (but the radio)’, was a discard of Lady Gaga. And others, like ‘Obseed’, sounded to discard even if they were not.
Charli XCX, another Pop student, believed in RAE more than anyone, got on his theme ‘2 die 4’ and then invited her to the ‘von dutch’ Remix. Charli has been the first celebrity that has taken Addison seriously artistically (less success has had Addison in the cinema), and ‘Addison’ does not disappoint delivering a collection of well -produced pop songs, intelligent and polished, which not only do not hide their influences but take them written on the forehead, proud to have done justice.
‘Addison’ does not hide his referential mood (‘Money is Everything’ mentions Madonna, Lana and Gaga) but bothers to offer a handful of exquisite melodies and productions, worked by Addison with two people very close to Max Martin, the Swedish Elvira Anderfjärd and the Luxemburgues Luka Closer, which appeals to different sensibilities of pop ‘Diet Pepsi’, the great success of Addison Rae – for the moment – is a tribute to Lana del Rey so obvious – and so good – that wool herself has been recorded listening to him in the car, smiling. ‘Aquamarine’ points to the Ibizan discos remembering Kylie and Britney. The electro ‘Fame is a gun’ is Indie Sleaze as coming from Norway or Sweden: it seems from the underaved Annie.
As Tiktok when he turns an unknown song that was never single, ‘Addison’ becomes strong evoking the careful care of your favorite pop Stars. ‘Headphones on’ claims Madonna’s most forgotten album, ‘Bedtime Stories’ (1994). The electro-r & b ‘Money is Everything’ is the typical light trap-pop that could have appeared in ‘Clarity’ (2019) by Kim Petras. ‘Times Like These’ takes us to All Saints Beach.
All these styles could sound unconnected in ‘Addison’, but this is an atypical album in the American pop industry because it has been written and produced by exactly three people, specifically, three women, instead of an infinite squad of collaborators. The hypnotic melodies of Addison Rae, who take advantage of their sweet and whispered – although limited – voice, provide glue to productions that avoid traveling only the path of nostalgia and recreation, and know how to be as interesting as ‘New York’, which looks like the evolution of ‘Brat’ (2024), or the aforementioned ‘High Fashion’.
In addition, the personality of Addison Rae is present in letters that speak not only of love, such as the crush ‘Summer Forever’, also influenced by Lana, that of ‘Born to Die’ (2012); but also of the need to hide the emotions (‘in the Rain’) or of Addison’s new life in the public eye (‘Money is Everything’ is a satire about the wealth of celebrities, ‘Fame is a gun’ is Addison playing ‘The Fame’). Tracks like ‘High Fashion’ or ‘Fame is a gun’ present a comfortable Addison playing the game of the celebrity, assuming an exaggerated role that still does not represent it at all. But pop is also fantasy and ‘Addison’, from her, is left over.
