Declared the film of the summer, Barbie has captured hearts across generations and one of the more prominent elements of the whirlwind of chatter surrounding its release has been the eager anticipation of its soundtrack. A star-studded symphony of electric pop, dance and disco jams, the album transports the listener into a world of blissful pleasure characterised by its ability to invoke a dance or a sing along in any listener that will let it.
Executively produced by seasoned producer Mark Ronson, it’s an album that, emblematic of its curator, keenly embraces familiarity, never straying too far away from the tried and tested. This is true for sound and lyricism and is well exemplified in Dua Lipa’s ‘Dance the Night Away’. Employing a musicality and cadence [almost too] similar to that of her 2020 album Future Nostalgia, she is successful in delivering an epic and fun lead single that fantastically sets the tone of what to expect of the album - very, very entertaining fluff.
Interpolating Aqua’s 1997 iconic track, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice encapsulate the. zeitgeist with ‘Barbie World’, an enjoyable rap reinterpretation of a classic, that marks the second collaboration between the two rappers. Nicki, who is well known to invoke Barbie imagery and has a fan base of ‘Barbz’ delivers a rhythmically satisfying, although not groundbreaking, verse that pairs well with Spice, who delivers one of her better verses of recent times.
Sam Smith’s ‘Man I Am’ pairs Smith’s penchant for flamboyant vocals with fairly chauvinistic lyrics by an exaggerated deep, smoky voice (definitely not compensating for anything !), creating an entertaining dichotomy that is successful in highlighting the ridiculousness of toxic masculinity. However, if conveying the vapidity of Ken was the objective, power ballad ‘I’m Just Ken’ is infinitely more successful at this. Performed by Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken in the film, the track contains a fervour that is notably missing from a good portion of this album. (This, perhaps, speaks to the gap in grasp of the task between artists that have been simply provided a prompt and an actor that has embodied the role for months.) His musings about “Kenergy” and “Blonde Fragility” are so spirited you almost forget the ridiculousness of it all. The song is a personal highlight of the album (and the film).
Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?’ employs breathy vocals and ethereal harmonies to simulate depth, on an otherwise shallow album. This appearance of substance is, of course, only relevant to whatever length of time in which you can forget the song is about a fictional doll. Despite this, Eilish’s voice anthropomorphises Barbie in a masterful way, opening the door to extremely relevant thoughts about the role of women in society. Thrown in the ring with heavyweights, newer artist GAYLE holds her own with ‘butterflies’, a pop rock anthem that is very true to her style and is frenzied in a way that creates an intimately fun and enjoyable listening experience. Overall, when you strip away the uptempo beats and vapid lyricism, you are left with not much more than a saccharine phantasmagoria of fluffy nothingness. And in all honesty, I loved it. In a sociopolitical climate that seems to be ever deteriorating, I firmly believe in embracing joy and simplicity where you can. Not all art needs to contain hard hitting commentary; it’s extremely okay to sit back and embrace the
Kenergy!
Written by Angel Oseghale
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