Amy Shark lives up to the hype and more on new LP, ‘Love Monster’
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Amy Shark lives up to the hype and more on new LP, ‘Love Monster’

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Few artists have been as hyped as Amy Shark has since ‘Adore’ broke through in 2016. Hype can be a dangerous thing for an artist if they fail to live up to it, but Shark has impressively remained unfazed.

After proving that she was no one hit wonder with her fantastic Night Thinker EP, it should come as no surprise that she has well and truly surpassed the hype with her debut album Love Monster. And as the name suggestS, it is monster; it’s 14 tracks of unbridled emotion, honest vocals and stunning production.

It’s clear that some of these songs are from Shark’s early days written alone on an acoustic guitar, while others are the fruits of more recent collaborations with some rather big names. None bigger than Mark Hoppus on ‘Psycho’, arguably the best track on the album. It’s a story of the jealousy that can go hand in hand with falling in love, and it’s about as relatable as a pop song can get.

‘I Said Hi’ has been all over airwaves for good reason, while including ‘Adore’ seems an odd decision for the record given how long ago it was released. However, it was then, and still is a brilliant song.

The slower numbers are often the most beautiful moments on the album. Despite their incredible production, tracks such as ‘All Loved Up’, ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Leave Us Alone’ are dripping with the honesty of an acoustic Death Cab for Cutie deep cut. ‘Middle of the Night’ might not be heard on commercial radio due to its expletive-laden lyrics, yet it’s one of the album highlights.

It really is hard to pick standouts here. Shark has managed to harness an intense amount of hype into an album that surpasses all expectation, while still remaining so personal that listening to it feels like reading her diary. With every subsequent listen, you’re sure to notice a little musical touch or a lyric more than you did the first time – making many, many listens the only way to approach this stunning debut.

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