Best Ex - ‘With A Smile’ review
Best Ex, self portrait
Best Ex's With A Smile is the first indie pop record in ages that I've had on repeat. It reminds me of everything that made me fall in love with the genre in my cardigan-wearing, tea-sipping university days.
In recent years, I'd put off listening to the genre, feeling burnt out and, frankly, a bit embarrassed about my twee past. But the minute I put on With A Smile, all of that faded away and I was transported back to the hours I spent flicking through 7-inch records in charity shop bargain bins, hunting for hidden gems. The album has everything I love about the genre: beautiful pop-driven melodies, bright jangly guitars, and lyrics that, despite the bright sonic soundscapes, often bite.
Best Ex is the musical project of Northern New Jersey native Mariel Loveland, the former frontwoman of nostalgia-tinged pop-punk band Candy Hearts. With A Smile, the follow-up to her sophomore EP Good At Feeling Bad, is inspired by her personal growth during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Opening the album is the track of the same name "With a Smile," it's an overture, something I'm personally a bit of a sucker for. Lyrically, it explores the thoughts trapped in our heads when we're feeling trapped inside, questioning our choices and wishing we could do more. We are just too much, too broken, too hard to love. In the end, the song resolves to face the world with a smile as our battle armour.
The album's second track, "Tell Your Friends," is a tongue-in-cheek waltz that wryly skewers the man-babies in society who deem women to be "too much" while doing nothing in return. Its upbeat poppy melodies belie its biting lyrics, which point out the hypocrisy of these men who complain about their "crazy" partners while piling more and more on their backs. The closing lines of the first verse, about being a single mom to a 30-year-old who already has one, is one of the most bitingly brilliant lyrics I've heard all year.
Lyrical wit shines throughout the album, especially on tracks where she comments on modern society and a woman's perceived place in it. For example, Best Ex's recent single "Die For You" featuring her longtime friend Luxtides (Danni Bouchard), takes aim at the music industry's treatment of women. Fed up with the double standards, unwanted words, looks, and touches, the song tears apart the industry's toxic gatekeepers. In juxtaposition to the track's rage-driven lyrics sonically, it's a complete bop with a chorus that begs you to sing along.
On the theme of bops, one of the album's standout tracks is "I Promise To Ruin Your Life." The track summons the spirit of 90s alt-rock, and its nostalgia-driven rhymes will have you dancing around the kitchen. Lyrically, it's one of the more hopeful songs on the album, revolving around the feeling of meeting a stranger that you absolutely adore. The song also includes a musical nod to Loveland's previous work in Candy Hearts, with the lyrics referencing her old band's hit "All The Ways You Let Me Down."
The Americana-tinged "Joyride" is a love song written by a self-professed cynic. In the song, Loveland tells the story of meeting her husband and how, despite being cynical about love before meeting him, she can't help but believe that their love is something special. She still doesn't believe in soulmates or true love in the traditional sense, but meeting him has nearly shattered her cynicism. It is the tender heart of the whole album and one of the things that make With A Smile such a great listen.
Closing the album is "Daylight," a 2020s take on the soundscape of early aughts American indie. It's the perfect ending to With A Smile, a melting pot of the album's lyrical themes: anxiety, OCD, womanhood, falling in love, and self-doubt. The song's 80s-inflected drums, ethereal vocals, and dreamy synths create a perfect coda to the record.
Best Ex's debut album, With A Smile, is a mature and infectiously melodic celebration of indie pop that will get you dancing, thinking, and feeling, all at the same time. The lyrics are fully fleshed out and address hard-hitting themes head-on, from the music industry's treatment of women to the challenges of self-doubt, making this album a must-listen for fans of the genre.
With A Smile is out now on Idoine Recordings/Alcopop! Records.
