Love & Hyperbole

the take

As an Alessia Cara fan since like 2015, I was surprised and excited to see she decided to come back to release more music this year. I only heard one lead single before the album, "Dead Man", which I enjoyed a bit more than I anticipated. To me, it sounded a bit different and more... "urban-ish" (I can't describe shit, lowkey) than previous releases, which is good to see Ms. Cara evolve her sound a bit. And yet I still couldn't help but be a bit nervous if her execution would fall flat. "Love & Hyperbole" is one of those albums where you really either like it or just think it's okay. (Some might say it's terrible, but that's absurd.) Me, I fall into the "really like it" territory. Like previous releases by Alessia Cara, the music can come off as a bit bland and cheesy, but there's no denying the charm that's on full display here. Alessia still got it with her beautiful vocals and the relatable lyrics/songwriting. Add that with the more urban-pop/borderline-full-on-R&B production and you have a new side of Alessia that's either haven't been seen before or was rarely seen until now. It shows the growth and maturity of the artist, in a sense. The second half of the album has a bit more consistency than the first, and while the range of how good each track is is like that to a rollercoaster for me (up, slightly down, then slightly back up again, etc.), I still found this album to be really enjoyable. Of course, I might be slightly biased, though. Either way, I'm glad I started off my 2025 musical journey with this effort by Ms. Alessia Cara.