Song Review: Julia Michaels Is Going From The Background To The Spotlight
Over the past two years, JULIA MICHAELS has solidified herself as one of pop music’s most in-demand songwriters, co-writing a string of Billboard Hot 100 hits including inescapable smashes like, Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” Nick Jonas ft. Tove Lo “Close,” Selena Gomez’s “Good for You” [feat. A$AP Rocky] & “Hands To Myself”, Hailee Steinfeld “Love Myself,” Britney Spears “Slumber Party,” Gwen Stefani “Used To Love You” and more. WOW! Those are a lot of hits, which means the pressure is on for her to prove that the greatness she gives to others, she can also give to herself.
Julia Michaels’ songs have been consumed over 50 million times worldwide, but “Issues” is her first song where she is the headlining singer. Frankly, its a good introduction to an artist that blends mainstream goodness with her own, unique worldview. After working to etch out the feelings of others, “Issues” feels like a declaration to the world/ lover that Michaels has her own problems but also her own resolutions, which is why she can work things out. She is as strong and virtuous a writer as she is a singer, with a range that blows through notes like wind upon rose petals. She knows how to make her voice a flowery force that strikes listeners like a lasting, beautiful perfume. Yet, what I enjoy most about “Issues” is its lyrical mindset of maturity and honesty, which is the right basis for a relationship’s beginning. As she tells her potential lover of both her desire for him and the truth of her own personal insecurities, she warns him that she has woes like him or anyone else, but the difference is she recognizes they are hers. Thus, all he has to do is take the love she gives because her problems she solves on her own. The song is both fiercely independent, vulnerable, and has a good rhythm.
Issues
Sonically, “Issues” feels like victorian pop. It is slow in pace like a “Cinderella waltz” where you find yourself gracefully dancing with your prince. Your glass slipper can be found in the heavy bass and popping synths that makes “Issues” sound oddly sexy. No one expects declaring you have problems to be a song with a sultry mix, but Michaels knows how to make hit that shows even at your weakest you can still sound your strongest. The greatness about “Issues” is that it genuinely feels like a hit that should be up there with Bieber’s, Gomez’s, and Spears’ top singles, which makes sense because Michaels helped make them. For More Information On Julia Michaels Click Here.
