After an 11-year break from music, Hilary Duff has released a brand new album. It’s a true comeback from the singer who once dominated the charts after her adventure with Disney Channel. We were a bit hesitant to dive into her new music. How could you possibly top hits such as ‘Come Clean’, ‘Wake Up’ and ‘So Yesterday’? And how can she create an album as good as Dignity — the record that brought us bangers like ‘Gypsy Woman’ and ‘Danger’? That album still sounds fresh to this day: no skips, and truly ahead of its time. Yet here we are, giving Hilary the chance she deserves.
Leading up to luck… or something we were treated to several singles that, in our opinion, were a bit misleading. The singles ‘Mature’ and ‘Roommates’ sound rather generic and forgettable to us. They’re the kind of songs that could have been recorded by any pop singer, missing that true Hilary trademark. It’s when the singer gets personal that she truly captures the listener. The first highlight on the album is ‘We Don’t Talk’. Here she sings about her estranged relationship with her sister — a story of regret, distance and unresolved family conflict. On the track she doesn’t shy away from sharing her family drama with the public.
The family themes continue on ‘The Optimist’. The song dives into the complicated relationship Hilary has with her father. The songwriting is beautiful as she bares all to the listener. It easily stands as the most emotional offering on the project. The production perfectly lends itself to her angelic voice, remaining calm and restrained rather than going all out. She becomes poetic with lyrics such as: “I was an emotional architect who knew your dimensions more than you. I learned which way you turned your back, to let go of eye contact, and which bottles made you feel most immune.”
For the album the singer worked closely with her husband, Matthew Koma. The producer reaches a high point with ‘Future Tripping’, a fun upbeat pop song that sits somewhere between glossy glam-pop and 80s synths. The theme of the track feels very relatable as Hilary sings about spiralling over the future of her relationship, letting her worst thoughts take over: “I’m worried about shit that hasn’t happened. Entertaining every doubt. Oh, here I go again, tripping out, spiraling around and around. Can you keep me on the ground? Honey, I need help.”
CLEAN’s personal favorite on the album flirts with the same theme of anxiety within a relationship. On ‘Holiday Party’, Hilary sings about her imagination running wild and fearing the worst from her partner. She explores anxious thoughts about her husband cheating on her with her best friends at a holiday party. In her mind he is doing all the worst things imaginable. We can’t help but wonder what the vibe in the studio was like when Hilary sang the line “In my head, you live another life where you fuck all my friends and wish someone else could’ve been your wife” — especially with her husband, who produced the track, sitting right there in the studio with her.
The album ultimately manages to surprise CLEAN. We enjoy the glossy pop sound that sits somewhere between the universes of Robyn and Carly Rae Jepsen. Hilary sounds as angelic as ever on this autobiographical body of work. She opens up about relationship anxieties, estranged family ties and growing into her role as a mother and wife. She truly bares it all for the listener and doesn’t hold back on any topic.