Did you know it’s been eight years since former Disney starlet, Hilary Duff released an album? Me either, but then again, when I think of Duff, I usually wonder if it was her or her sister in Napoleon Dynamite, then I wonder how I seem to know she has a sister, or how I know who Hilary Duff is in the first place. Never the less, it’s been the better part of a decade since she has released a full album. TV-bred pop stars were all the rage back in those days just as much as they are now and in all honesty, Miley Cyrus, Arianna Grande, and Selena Gomez have Duff to thank for their respective careers. She paved the way for other Disney Channel stars being the first one to break out in the pop world (in modern times anyway). Thanks to the popularity of her show Lizzie McGuire on The Disney Channel, Duff, like the starlets after her, had a built-in audience that granted her moderate success. By the time 2007 rolled around she had already tried to shake her pristine image by trying her hand at more mature roles in TV and film, as well as releasing an edgier album that featured songs about her much publicized relationships.
However, that album had luke-warm sales and the roles she was taking were just kind of meh. Some of the blame could be put on Disney fatigue, at that time Hannah Montana was still going strong as well as High School Musical. Disney’s child star factory was churning out more stars than the public could keep up with, so it was a given that Duff’s popularity was going to falter. Despite trying mature roles and that angry pop record, Duff just couldn’t manage to shake the sweet, wholesome image. She wasn’t part of any controversies, there wasn’t any scandalous run ins with the law, and her movies were about as edgy as prime time television would allow. She had grown up, but so did her target audience.
Fast forward to 2015, Duff has experienced marriage, motherhood, divorce, and a somewhat resurgence in popularity thanks to a new TV Land show. She’s been through some stuff, still under the age of 30, and single again, so the next logical step? Another pop record of course! After releasing a head scratching acoustic-folk single last year (that rightfuly flopped) she teamed up with Swedish golden boy Bloodyshy, Tove Lo, and many other producers to work on some EDM inspired songs for a full length album. The result is Breathe In. Breathe Out.
Let’s get one thing straight, I personally feel that today’s mainstream pop scene is a travesty. An unrelenting marathon of nauseating, mindless, drivel that makes the cheesiest of 90s pop songs look like Pet Sounds in comparison. Aside from my personal opinion on what’s popular on mainstream radio, I’m still a sucker for a good pop song. There’s nothing better than an easy ingestible, three-chord, romp about love, sunshine, and happiness. Even though I despise the likes of Miley, Grande, Swift, and Gomez, I can still effectively listen to modern pop music at face value without letting my perceptions getting in the way of what constitutes as good or bad. I jumped into Breathe In. Breathe Out. with an open mind.
Cut and dry, Breathe In. Breathe Out. is a modern pop record. There isn’t a single thing that stands out making it any better than anything that’s popular yet there isn’t anything making it much worse. It has all the standard ingredients that make up a modern pop album, like processed vocals, synthetic beats, layered keypads, etc. Lyrically it relies on every single trope such as being yourself, breaking free, breaking up, and dancing. There just really isn’t much to say about the album other than it is what it is. It has all the bells and whistles found on just about any other record in the genre but it doesn’t have any legitimate appeal setting it apart from the competition. Even the song “Tattoo,” which was written by pop wonder boy Ed Sheeran, sounds mediocre and far too bland to be a single. “Belong” sneaks into pre-1989 Taylor Swift territory with it’s sing-song simplicity. If that’s a good or bad thing is comepletely subjective. The lead single “Confetti” is probably the best out of the bunch. It’s simple, clean, features a decent beat, and touches upon everything that makes a decent pop song on the radio these days. The shallow lyrics (including a clever nod to Belinda Carlisle) are saved by Duff’s robotic, monotone delivery, which in this case seems intentional, making it almost a good song. Believe it or not, I may go as far to say I’d even kinda like it if it weren’t so soulless.
Let’s face it, it’s Hilary Duff. No one was expecting a revolutionary symphony that was going to change the way music is heard, and it’s safe to say that we all know Duff doesn’t have the most powerful voice in music, or identifiable one for that matter. In fact, the title track “Breathe In. Breathe Out.” sounds like any given Carly Rae Jepsen song, “Lies” sounds like Selena Gomez, “One In A Million” has an Arianna Grande vibe, etc. It’s remarkable how generic these songs come off while at the same time playing up the trends. Duff might be a middle-of-the-road as an artist but it actually speaks volumes about the state of pop music in itself. If Duff’s average range, can manage to sound so much like these other artists such as Jepsen, Gomez, and Grande, what does that say about them as artists or pop music as a whole? It’s questions like this that brings me to two very separate conclusions. On one hand Breathe In. Breathe Out. is a pedestrian attempt at what’s popular on the charts. On the other, it’s everything one would love about the genre, rolled into a tight little package.
Just like Duff’s attempts at shaking her sweet, Disney-esque image, without selling her morals out, Breathe In. Breathe Out. falls just short of being a decent album. There’s almost an endearing quality about it that just may sum up her entire career. It lacks the edge and legitimate personality to set it apart from the crowd. Duff was never an amazing actress but she is likeable and attractive enough to stick around. She was never an amazing singer but the songs were passable to the point where she could still be counted as successful. With nearly 20 years of career behind her, Hilary Duff has been around the block. She has seen the highs and lows of popularity. With that kind experience, she should be teaching the current roster of Pop Tarts a thing or two about the industry. Instead she is clamoring to fit in among them like a 20 year old trying to impress a 15 year old. Is she holding back? Is there anything to hold back? Maybe some artists are just meant for mediocrity? If that’s the case, as sad as it may sound, at least she owns it. I’m not exactly sure if Duff has it in her to release a good album or even enough acting chops to earn real credibility in Hollywood. But at this point she has been around long enough to attempt to be relevant. If it doesn’t work, at least nothing she does is bad enough to be forgotten. I can only remember the tune of three out of 14 songs on the album and I’ve listened to it several times over.
I actually wanted Breathe In. Breathe Out. to be bad. There is nothing more empowering than taking a bad album and ripping it to shreds. But after listening to it a few times, I find that while being bland, generic, and dense, all the ingredients of a bad album, my problem lies with what’s become of the genre itself. This candy coated mediocrity is what is expected out of the artists and also encouraged. This isn’t an artists who is trying to appeal to a certain fanbase, this is Duff merely following suit. Recently, listeners are touting Taylor Swift’s 1989 as the best pop record of the decade and that makes me sad that this is what the genre has come down to. I don’t want to get into a rant on how much I loathe Swift, after all this is about Hilary Duff, but I think it’s about time we as listeners (who are buying this fluff) should hold our idols to a higher standard. From a genre that gave us Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and The Beatles, this is unacceptable. Oh and for what it’s worth, I enjoyed Breathe In. Breathe Out. much more than Taylor Swift’s 1989, but that’s not saying much.
Rating: 1.5/5