Bea Miller, an American singer, songwriter, and actress began her career on season two of The X Factor, a British reality television music competition where she placed ninth overall at just 13 years old. After her entrance to the music industry, Miller released Not An Apology in 2015 which secured her a top ten Billboard spot. Miller followed that release with a series of color-themed EPs including Chapter One: Blue, Chapter Two: Red, and Chapter Three: Yellow in early 2017. In 2018, she delivered her album Aurora featuring her hit single Motherlove. With a low and raspy voice, Miller easily brings a unique sound to the electronic-infected pop music scene. The artist revealed her latest album elated! on Friday Oct. 23, containing seven new songs and featuring her new hit single wisdom teeth.

The first song featured on the album is hallelujah. The song contains many metaphors including “I don’t wanna keep running around like a chicken with her head cut off.” The vivid imagery and ferociousness in Miller’s voice makes it clear that she’s passionate about trying to make the world a better place in this dark-pop song. The lyrics were creative and made me very optimistic for the remaining songs on the album.

The next track on the album is Feel Something Different, a collaboration with Portland-bred rapper Aminé. The song is a completely different take on Miller’s 2019 Feel Something with more than 192 million streams. The change in mood with more of a disco touch leaves listeners feeling confused. The song explores fear and anxiety, which is a topic not suitable to be played with a disco background.

forever is a lie talks about Miller not believing that love can last forever because of all the lies she has been told and past experiences she has had. At the beginning of the song, you can clearly hear the pain and anger in Miller’s voice. However, even though there were some special moments, overall, the tune is mundane.There are no stellar vocal range moments, which Miller is completely capable of, and there was too much repetition in the song. There are times where it seems like even Miller is bored of this song. 

making bad decisions comes after. The song begins with a slow intro and quickly picks up the pace to talk about living life carefree and making bad decisions. The sudden change going from a slow beginning to an upbeat and fast ending in the song was the only thing that impressed me. The tone and vocal range stayed the same throughout the song. With such fun and entertaining lyrics, it’s unfortunate not to hear any storytelling within Miller’s voice.

Wisdom teeth was definitely my favorite on the album. The song reflects on her childhood and the innocence she had. Growing her wisdom teeth as she got older represents the confidence she starts to lose. The sound effects of opening beer bottles gave a unique touch that the other songs did not have.

Overall, this album did not resonate with me like her other albums did. Only a few emotions were felt, and it was very bland. The emotion that her previous album Aurora gave was much more personal and raw. The album also didn’t showcase any of Miller’s vocal talents. With such a broad range, it was upsetting to hear such monotone tunes. For having over eight years of experience in the music industry, I had higher expectations. If Miller doesn’t pick up her game soon, she might not have an industry to look back on anymore.