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Alessia Cara released her debut EP on August 28, 2015. Cara narrates five different scenarios of teenaged life in her EP, Four Pink Walls. Each track is entirely unique and is an accurate portrayal of the life of an average teenage girl.
The title track “Four Pink Walls” is one of two tracks that reflects on relationships. The struggle depicted is a familiar one of attempting to allow someone to see you for who you truly are, attempting to “tear down my walls”. This message reaches across many age groups, however, Cara’s pop sound appeals mostly to her teenage audience. Similarly, the single “Here” shares a pop vibe while embodying the common out of place feeling that many have while at a party. “Here” is both an unapologetic anti-party song while excusing the behavior of an “antisocial pessimist” that “usually I don’t mess with” with the party scene. The video for “Here” fits with the scenes depicted in the song. Cara is typically sitting in the background of a hazy surrounding, while staring down the camera. “Here” is the honest thoughts of the awkward and exhausted teenager that really just wants to relax with her friends.
Contrastingly, “Seventeen”, the other relatively well-known song of the EP, is a song that celebrates youth and growing older and wiser. Cara shares in the experience of being “too young to understand what” life means, and the inability to “wait till I was seventeen”. The track holds onto youthfulness, and wishing to “freeze the time at seventeen”. The video, like the track, goes back to the silliness of youth. Cara filmed the video herself, and so many of the scenes are Cara bouncing around a hotel room in comfy clothes. The track carries a nostalgic feel, although the music keeps the message lighthearted.
Alessia Cara has a similar sound to many young female artists, but the steady tempo and beat of songs are a welcome refuge from the loud and overly enthusiastic of many of Cara’s peers. Cara is a pop artist that is firmly off the beaten path; she’s taking a unique approach with her blunt lyrics and keeping the focus on her stunning vocals, rather than the instrumentals. However, her songs are reflective of a teenage girl, and won’t appeal to an audience beyond teenaged girls. If you are a teenage girl, from one teenaged girl to another, “Four Pink Walls” is definitely worth a listen. Only time will tell what kind of live performer Alessia Cara will be.
