User blog:Jaxswim/Best of 2014: Album No. 3

# 3: Queen of the Clouds - Tove Lo

 Release Date: September 24 

 Peak Position (US Albums): #14   

General Review Queen of the Clouds is a bit of a typical album that I would enjoy if you just look at what it is on the surface: a female-sung pop album with alternative influences. It's only after 5, 10, 15 listens through that you start to realize that QOTC is no average album. Tove Lo delivers a debut album split into three parts: The Sex, The Love, and The Pain. With huge choruses, fantastic production, and emotive vocals helping every track string itself together, there's no way this album couldn't be in the top 3 of the year. Tove Lo's lyricism could be only slightly stronger with sometimes too-blunt lines ("On good days I am charming as fuck"), but this is something that normally doesn't hinder the flow of the album and will only improve with time. Overall, I only have that one complaint about the album and the rest is nearly flawless. I'm excited to see how far up Tove can go, because she's starting fairly high. Track-by-track My Gun is the opener overall and the Sex portion of the album. The song's lyrics are nothing short of sexy: "Last night you were who you preferred because of me//Wake up messed up but you're still happy as can be". Though this doesn't translate to the vocals, this is not to say they fall flat, with an almost reggaeton vibe to them. Plus, the gun shooting sound effects get me every time. Like Em Young might remind one of Ke$ha or her peers, but do not be fooled by the silly lyrics and catchy hook reminscient of them, this song is all Tove Lo. For one thing, when I say catchy, I mean stuck-in-your-head-for-the-week, enjoying-to-annoyed-to-enjoying-again, KILLER catchy, and the lyrics are smarter in delivery than they seem: "People make me wonder//'Cause age is just a number//They don't think about//It's all I think about". Talking Body is an absolute epic. While the verses paint a picture with lower vocals, the pre-chorus helps bridge the explosion into the flawlessly produced and written chorus. Timebomb closes out the Sex, but it is strong enough to be an album closer of its own. Tove's off-beat singing to a lone piano and frantic vocals all narrating what could be "the best thing ever" add to the uniqueness and individuality of the song and Queen of the Clouds. Moments opens the next section, The Love. I find it to be the most touching and relatable song on the album with lyrics like "I'm not the prettiest you've ever seen//But I have my moments". The Way That I Am seems as if it would stand better as a piano ballad, but instead is an electronic track -- still not bad, but not living to its full potential. Got Love is probably the reason I bought the album after getting it as an iTunes free track, but had I not heard it alone the song would end up lost in the middle of the album, I believe. The chorus is still much worth listening to every time, though. Not On Drugs is the album's namesake, coming in the pre-chorus. The song is an electronic banger about being deeply in love claiming "You're high enough for me". Opening the final stretch of the album, The Pain, is Thousand Miles, a mainly piano-driven ballad with a monstrous chorus. Habits (Stay High) hardly needs a review-- after the success it's received, I'm sure everyone knows it. The song represents the album well, but only shows one of many colors at the same time. This Time Around is a definite grower. With dull, hollow vocals in the chorus on the verge of breaking, it's hard to tell at first how perfectly they fit the lyrics about empty relationship after empty relationship. The album closer on the standard edition, Run On Love, is possibly my favorite song off the record. It may appear on the surface to be a generic DJ song, but it is far from this (a common theme in Tove's songs). The song tells a story that starts off with a happy relationship that can "run on love" until -- foreshadowing -- "it dies again". During the second verse, everything starts falling apart and the vocals and lyrics become exasperated; "You say that it's my error//I say look in the mirror/The reason why our flame is dead". The final breakdown echoes the line "I always come back to you, I always come back" in a hauntingly honest ending to the album. Best Track: Run On Love Worst Track: The Way That I Am Why You Should Buy This Album: First of all, support the girl because she is not making money off of this so far. Other than that, every song on this album is fantastic and deserves much more attention than it's gotten.