After debuting on Broadway with Tony-award-winning Musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” and releasing his first album “Sing To Me Instead” in 2019, Ben Platt is back not only with his new upcoming movie (which premieres this Friday), but with his new album Reverie.
Reverie: a state of being pleasantly lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream.
When he set the bar for all of us back in April, he began introducing his album by dropping his first single entitled “Imagine.” This echo-type beat gave us a whole new perspective on what was to come and showed us how much he has evolved as a musician and songwriter. When I learned that Jon Bellion actually helped produce the track, it definitely made sense. You hear some of his inspiration come into play. The song lyrically encompasses a passionate feeling towards a special person in your life and feeling as if you can’t imagine your life without them. Aww, okay, let’s move on before we start to tear up.
Personally, the moment I knew this album was going to be phenomenal, was when his second single, “happy to be sad” dropped in July. This song can be compared to his first single and adds to the same emotion both lyrically and instrumentally. “happy to be sad” introduces the ironic feeling of being happy that you miss someone, leading to the realization that what you’re feeling for them when they’re away is true and stable. It’s a unique take on a song.
About a month after releasing “happy to be sad,” Platt releases his sophomore album entitled Reverie, signifying a daydream-like state that can pretty much sum up the whole album in one word.
Platt introduces the album to us with “king of the world, pt. 1” which becomes a recurring theme throughout the album, returning again with part two as an interlude, and part three as the last song, concluding the record. All three include the same electronic effects on vocals, playing well with a ballad-like composition.
Listening on, we come across one of my personal favorites, “childhood bedroom”. This track really resembles the reverie feeling of your worries drifting and transporting you back to the nostalgic, easy-going years of your childhood. This bop will definitely make you want to dance in your bedroom, regardless of your age. Also, the iconic Julia Michaels helped write this song, which, to me, makes it even better.
As most albums take you on a journey, this is around the time when it starts to take a more dark, heart-breaking turn. With his tracks “I wanna love you but I don’t” and “leave my mind,” you begin to see some tracks that are meant for a broken heart in need of some sad songs. Their 90s disco-pop vibe really introduces us to a new sound for Platt, and opens up a new genre for his music, slightly drifting him away from his usual Broadway ballads. Where we really start to wipe our tears, is during track eight, entitled “carefully.” If we date back to his first solo album Sing To Me Instead, we can compare this song to “Grow As We Go,” known as his most listened to song from that album. It carefully (ha, pun intended) breaks down the recognition that a certain relationship will end inevitably, and asking someone to let them down, gently. BRB, getting tissues.
Finalizing this album becomes very precious when we listen to both “come back” and “dark times.” These lights at the end of the tunnel help close out the album in a message to always keep looking forward, and while acknowledging that we might be going through tough times, it isn’t forever. Overall, I felt that this album really brought back some classic pop vibes, while still introducing some new styles both musically and lyrically. It touched on topics that aren’t usually talked about and brought us back to times that we didn’t even know we missed. Honestly, that’s the beauty of both this album and music in general.
What are you still doing here? Go stream Reverie! Available now on all streaming platforms.