Castles is the fourth album from singer-songwriter Lissie.
Castles shows a songwriter with an excellent ear for melody and a singer with a strong voice and a willingness to go all in on a song. It also shows a songwriter who relies a little too heavily on very familiar hooks, and one who can get a little caught up in her own thing, leaving us with an album that lacks harmonic and tonal variety.
That’s not to say that the album is bad. It has strong themes and Lissie’s voice can carry her through a lot of things that would otherwise be missteps. It’s just that this album probably would have been a lot more interesting if the songs hadn’t sounded so much alike for so much of the album. It just feels like, whether she meant to or not, Lissie went full Lana Del Ray, and got stuck there for too long.
Recommendation: Stream It
Songs I Have A Playlist For: Crazy Girl, Castles, Best Days, Boyfriend, Somewhere
Songs I Would Thumbs Down: Love Blows
