Self Esteem - “The Best”

SXSW 2020 (cancelled) - OEB Score: 9; Popularity Index: 5 

Pairs Well With…Slow Club, Lady Gaga, Halsey

Self Esteem is Rebecca Taylor’s solo project after leaving Slow Club.  She says she needed to strike out on her own to write the kind of songs that have been bubbling inside her for a long time; big songs about love, sex and chaos with huge bass-lines, gospel choirs and the kind of polished production she admired on the biggest pop records.  Yes, there is a lot on this record, much of it compellingly creative, forceful, and danceable. But there are also experimental synthesized blurts, spare clattering drum pad beats, and cinematic interludes. The catchiest songs on the album, “Compliments Please,” are part female empowerment and fuck-off anthems such as “The Best,” “In Time,” and “Your Wife.”  But kudos to her for songs like “Favorite Problem” with incisive lyrics and sharp strings and “Peach You Had to Pick” that starts out as an organ driven gospel but then grows in anger fueled by distortion, feedback, and repetition.  It’s an ambitious album from a talented musician and vocalist who finds a balance between big Lady Gaga pop but with interesting texture and production.  Nor is she afraid to express big emotions about what’s she’s gone through on her way to finding herself(esteem) through her music. (David Zlotnick)