On Nov. 30, Alessia Cara released her second album, “The Pains of Growing.” If you’ve never heard of Alessia Cara, maybe you’d recognize the songs “Scars To Your Beautiful”, “Stay” by Zedd, or “Here.” I’ve been a fan of Alessia since her first album “Know-It-All”, released back in 2015. That album was full of incredible songs, such as “I’m Yours,” “Seventeen,” “Stone” and “Four Pink Walls.” I’ve been waiting THREE YEARS for Alessia to come out with her second album, and I can say it was well worth the wait.
First of all, the album cover is amazing, featuring a confused Alessia in an oversized suit, putting a new meaning to the phrase “growing pains”. This new meaning is developed in the first song, “Growing Pains.” This song explores Alessia’s experience as a young person in the spotlight, and how difficult it might be to grow up like that. “There’s no bandaids for the growing pains” is surely something we all can connect with, as this whole adulting thing is extremely overwhelming, even for us average-Janes.
The next song, “Not Today,” is another perfect anthem for whenever you’re going through it, no matter how big or small. The whole song talks about how one day everything will be better, just not today. This song lets you sit there and pout for a while, but just make sure this ‘not today’ attitude doesn’t last everyday! The happy music might be able to put a smile on your face as you soak in your bad day.
And “I Don’t Want To” could be another good pout song. This one talks about how badly she wants to call that someone and tell them she misses them, but she doesn’t want to. And she needs to let them go, but she doesn’t want to. We’ve all been there, missing someone we shouldn’t or dwelling on something we shouldn’t, but we just don’t want to stop, and Alessia captured that in this song.
“7 Days” pays homage to religion in a way, Alessia asks “Mr. Man Upstairs” if all this was worth the 7 days taken to create the universe. Sometimes this world seems like an altered state, and reality is a confusing thing.
“Trust My Lonely” is an amazing message for everyone. It talks about a messy relationship and coming out as a stronger individual. Everyone needs to trust their lonely sometimes, because it’s you against the world, and your happiness is always the most important thing you got!
“Wherever I Live” also talks about a hard part of adulting that not many people see. The loneliness of living alone as a young person. Your place could be a total wreck and it may seem like nothing is good about it, but she’s right, you have to make it a home wherever you are!
“All We Know” basically reads our minds, “what a strange world”. Life is a crazy thing and this world is also pretty crazy sometimes. But this is all we know, and in the grand scheme of things, we really don’t know. Well said, Alessia!
“A Little More” talks about the early stages of a new fling, where you just can’t get enough of them. You can almost feel it in your heart with the soft music in the background. This is perfect mental background music for when Mr. Knock on Your Door arrives.
Now, “Comfortable” exposes the dangerous honeymoon phase that taints a lot of relationships. “The comfortable” is the time when this fling isn’t so new anymore, and it’s your new normal. As scary as it may be, it’s just a sign that you made it past all the lovey-dovey beginnings.
“Nintendo Game” also exposes the horror that is dating in this generation. Alessia says that we “treat love like a Nintendo Game, and nobody wins”, which could not be more true. Dating is a scary game to play, and either you play the game or unfortunately, it plays you.
“Out of Love” is a sad ballad, asking why they fell out of love with you. We’ve all been in this place, whether it was an old best friend, an old romance, or a little crush in middle school. It’s hard when people move on without you, but this song can get you through it.
“Girl Next Door” describes some other feelings we’ve all had at some point. Comparing yourself to others can be deadly, but this song makes you feel like the perfect girl next door even if you think you’re average on so many levels. You are unique, and there is something incredibly memorable about you, and that’s something we all need to hear.
“My Kind” also reminds us that we all are unique in our own ways. In this one, Alessia says why her kind of fun and love is different than any other. And we all have something to offer in any department. She drops the mic with this one with “wish somebody would’ve told me we’d be alright”, and we all needed that!
“Easier Said” is so important! When something’s going wrong, we’ve all heard someone tell us to just cheer up, and we know that never works. This song reminds us that “healing and patience are lovers”….. Everything gets better with time! Get through each day one at a time and before you know it, you’ll heal.
Overall, I LOVE this album. Alessia Cara knows what we all need to hear and all these songs are so dang catchy! There’s a song for every mood or phase, and I can honestly say this album will be looping through my earbuds for a solid few weeks. Whether you’re a fan of Alessia or not, I highly suggest you listen to this, because there’s definitely something you need to hear somewhere on this album! Adulting is hard and confusing and emotional, and Alessia gets it.