Lily Rose: ‘Stronger Than I Am’ – EP Review
Lily Rose’s debut EP, Stronger Than I Am is out now, October 1st on all streaming platforms. Check out our full review and listen to the brand new music below.
There’s something special about Lily Rose. Her voice shines with hints of 90’s country, while her music is a perfect combination of that, mixed with hints of pop, soul and R&B.
With an eclectic pop-country sound, Rose embraces being one of country music’s few openly gay artists, singing about the woman who broke her heart and the one she hopes to find love with. There’s no hiding herself here, and that makes the project all the more personal. Throughout the seven songs, Rose deals with a breakup, explores the possibility of new love, and celebrates the virtues of her hometown.
Following the viral success of her song “Villain” on TikTok, Rose signed a joint deal with Big Loud Records, Back Blocks Music, and Republic Records to release her debut project, Stronger Than I Am, out today, October 1. The singer-songwriter co-wrote four of the seven tracks, which also include songs written by fellow genre-bending artists like Sam Hunt, Ernest, and Breland.
The viral hit, “Villain,” opens the album, having Rose sound like a country-leaning Adele on the breakup song. Over the groovy mid-tempo track, Rose sings of the two sides of a story that tend to accompany the end of every relationship. She’s okay with negative light for the sake of her ex, singing “You can be the hero // I can take the fall / If that’s how your story goes // Say it’s all my fault // Whatever helps you sleep at night // Yeah you can make me the bad guy // Make ‘em all believe it // If that’s how you’re feelin’ // I can be the villain.” Meanwhile, things take a turn near the end of the song, Rose admitting,“What they don’t know is I tried to make us work it out // but I couldn’t save us // I couldn’t save us.”
The album’s first few tracks all center around the theme of the various stages of grief that go with heartbreak. The clever title track is a highlight from the project and finds Rose dealing with her broken heart by occasionally finding strength and solace in a bottle of “something that’s stronger than I am.” While she admits that “sometimes I can handle my own,” it’s not all roses for Rose. “Tonight, I don’t feel like I can // That’s why I’m sitting here on something // That’s stronger than I am.”
Meanwhile, the previously-released “I Don’t Smoke,” has a vulnerable Rose admitting that it’s impossible for her to ignore her ex. “That’s like saying I don’t smoke when I drink,” she admits on the stunning track, a clear standout on the album.
On “Remind Me Of You”, Rose is trying to move on and it’s proving difficult. “Girl, you were all that I wanted // And that’s why falling in love with her // Is so hard to do,” she admits. “She don’t remind me of you // She’s checking every box on the list // But there’s one that she missed // I think I know what it is // She don’t remind me of you.”
Meanwhile, “Know My Way Around” shows a more hopeful singer, revealing the things she knows all too well and the one she wants to know more of. “Cause ever since you walked in // Only thing that I’ve been thinking ‘bout is my next move,”she sings to the girl who caught her eye. “I just wanna know my way around you.”
The seven track project ends with “Whole Lotta Hometowns,” arguably the most country song here as she celebrates the town she grew up in. “There’s a whole lotta hometowns,” she proclaims on the anthemic tune. “But only one of them’s mine.” With driving guitars that surround Rose’s lush vocals, “Whole Lotta Hometowns” is the perfect closer to the album, showing a different side to the profoundly talented singer-songwriter.
On Stronger Than I Am, Lily Rose has released an honest body of work that explores the various facets of a breakup in a way that’s remarkably real, raw, and relatable.
Stronger Than I Am Tracklist
- “Villain” (Lily Rose, Mackenzie Carpenter, Kyle Clark)
- “Stronger Than I Am” (Griffen Palmer, Geoff Warburton)
- “I Don’t Smoke” (Daniel Gerard Breland, Lalo Guzman, Michael Tyler)
- “Remind Me of You” (Corey Crowder, Sam Hunt, Ernest Keith Smith, Ryan Vojtesak)
- “Know My Way Around” (Lily Rose, Julian Bunetta, Savana Santos)
- “Breakin’ In” (Lily Rose, John Byron, Ben Johnson, Blake Pendergrass)
- “Whole Lotta Hometowns” (Lily Rose, Andy Albert, Kyle Clark)
Lily Rose’s debut EP ‘Stronger Than I Am’ is out now on all streaming platforms.
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Stronger Than I Am is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.
