The Kid Laroi makes his feelings clear in his debut studio album, “The First Time,” which was released on Nov. 10. Containing 20 songs, the album reminisces about his past toxic relationships as he expresses his frustration and regret by screaming the lyrics. The melody of a few songs gets repetitive even on the first listen, but despite the repetition, the album has stunning vocal production and the songs are catchy throughout. The numerous hits in the album, fortunately, make up for the annoying repetitiveness and chaotically hectic vibe of a few of the songs.
The Kid Laroi leads off his album with “Sorry.” The instrumental opening is relaxing, but his anxious lyrics beg to differ. During “Sorry,” The Kid Laroi sings about navigating fame as a young adult, acknowledging the stress and frustration that has come with it. The music is euphoric and the melody is carried by The Kid Laroi’s voice which sounds broken, communicating the pressure he feels.
The second song on the album is called “Bleed.” The melody of “Bleed’s” chorus is driven by a repetitive vocal riff that gets old quickly. The guitar sounds pretty rudimentary and as a result, feels boring. One thing that The Kid Laroi did get right on “Bleed” is the stunning vocal production, but the same is true for almost every song on the album.
“Too Much” is The Kid Laroi’s biggest hit from his new album. Featuring rapper Central Cee and BTS member Jung Kook, “Too Much” has over 84 million streams on Spotify. Oddly enough, the format and vibe of the music sounds tame and ordinary and gets old quickly. “Too Much” is a very modest and decent song, but it sounds too familiar, and nothing stands out.
“I Thought That I Needed You” is my personal favorite. The vocal riff during the chorus is catchy and its rap-filled verses provide variety, which makes the whole song entertaining and engaging.
Featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again, “Call Me Instead” contains a beautiful piano riff that is played throughout the song. Once more, the vocal production is on point. The feature does feel out of place as YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s performance does not match the tone of the song. Despite the unfitting feature, The Kid Laroi’s performance and instrumentals make this song a hit.
The second half of the album’s hits are “You” and “Love Again.” “You” has a carefree summer drive vibe which feels similar to many Dominic Fike songs. It’s a fun song to listen to and sounds a little different from other The Kid Laroi songs. “Love Again” is a beautifully sad song with a catchy melody that matches The Kid Laroi’s heartbroken feeling.
The end of the album is unfortunately made worse by the song “Where Does Your Spirit Go?,” in which The Kid Laroi’s voice sounds very odd while yelling the lyrics. This song is one of the main contributing factors to a post-listen headache.
Filled with vastly different-sounding songs, The Kid Laroi reaches out to a plethora of different musical tastes. A few songs are relatively generic and The Kid Laroi’s voice is jarring in some. Despite a few low points here and there, “The First Time” has an established vibe with catchy melodies that maintains the quality of The Kid Laroi’s previous mixtape, “F*ck Love.”
