Album Review: Demi Lovato – Confident
3 min read
Demi Lovato is one of the most empowered women in the music industry at the moment and she has just dropped her much anticipated fifth studio album Confident. From looking at the cover, you can just tell that this album is going to be packed full of attitude. We as the public have seen Lovato grow up in front of us and it hasn’t been without its set backs. While the world’s eyes watched on, Lovato dealt with depression, substance abusive and eating disorders and has come out the other side as somebody who shows a great deal of strength, reflecting it through her image and music.
The album begins with Confident, the first of 11 tracks. It’s a rousing song that begs the question “What’s wrong with being confident?”. The beginning of the track is met with Lovato’s strong demeanor and makes a statement with the lyrics “you had me underrated”. This newly discovered attitude is shedding a different light on the singer, with her new image quite possibly sealing her position as a pop queen, no longer a princess.
In the fierce track Old Ways Lovato seems to be acknowledging her days of riskier behaviour. She reflects on her growth both personally and professionally, stating that “Now I know what’s good for me”. She seems to be taking responsibility in a sense – “And the best part about it, is I’m the only who can do somethin’ about it” which demonstrates a great level of maturity.
Something I didn’t know I had been waiting for was Stone Cold. Lovato finally belts out some bigger notes on Stone Cold, causing flashbacks of the days of Skyscraper. Stone Cold is the first truly down tempo track on the album.
The only collaborations on the album are with Iggy Azalea and Sirah. Iggy features in a lazy rap on the track Kingdom Come. Her feature starts out slow about 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the track, though improves when the beat builds towards the end of her 50 second segment. Sirah’s guest rap on the next track, Waitin For You is better as she brings a brief but raw moment to the record.
Tracks like Lionheart and Yes feature some impressive vocals and show some raw emotion, again, similar to that of Skyscraper, the heart wrenching ballad that skyrocketed Lovato to pop music fame in 2011.
The album ends on an emotional and stirring note with Father; and song about Lovato’s relationship with her father who she was estranged from for 6 years before he passed away. She sings about wanting to forgive him even though she’s still hurting. She sings “You did your best or did you? Sometimes I think I hate you, I’m sorry Dad for feeling this”. The song is an emotional trip through Lovato’s grief and an inside look into her confusion and guilt.
Confident in some ways appears to be Demi’s ode to growing up, coming a long way since her Disney days. While the album is a statement of Lovato’s transformation, it doesn’t really contain any surprises musically, other than Cool For The Summer which was an EDM style track that blasted Lovato back onto the scene earlier this year. However, despite this, Confident is still a huge step up for Lovato in terms of lyrics and style, with almost every track telling an important personal story and providing a very enjoyable listen.
