Special

Special, Lizzo's fourth album, sees her complete her metamorphosis into an out-and-out radio pop star. That leads to mixed results, as the highest high this album hits produced one of the best pop songs of 2022 (the endlessly catchy "About Damn Time"), while the lowest points are among some of the most uninspired songs you'll hear all year.

Lizzo is not a great songwriter. That's not to say she's bad, but if you want great lyrics, she's not the one for that. Her limitations as a songwriter have not been an issue for her because she's wildly charismatic and can make even the most cringe-worthy lyrics bearable. Much of that is lost here. "I Love You Bitch" is the worst offender, and also comfortably the worst song on this album. The hook is grating and many of the lyrics on this song and across this album sound like things you'd see on a "motivational quotes" Instagram page. I anticipate we'll see a number of lyrics on this album become popular Instagram captions, not unlike many Drake lyrics.

Many of the songs here are in the electropop/disco-pop lane that Dua Lipa has effectively monopolized in the mainstream. When you listen to other people attempt to find that success that Future Nostalgia (and before that, The Fame) had in that genre, it leads to a lot of songs that are just "fine." Many of the songs in that lane on this album are also just "fine," but I mentioned that "About Damn Time" is one of the best pop songs of the year and I stand by that.

By now, you've probably heard the song a million times in passing, or you've seen everyone, their mother, and their grandmother do the TikTok dance (a dance that Lizzo herself has also done several times), but it really is a great track. The beat is bouncy and the lyrics are charming. It's reminiscent of what made her previous work so fun to listen to. If Lizzo is going to go in that direction permanently, this song should become her template, as it's her best work in that style so far. I cannot say enough good things about it.

The final few tracks do nothing for me. This review is also going longer than I wanted it to, so I won't elaborate much. They're not bad songs. They're well-constructed pieces of music. They just don't move me at all. Shoutout to Quelle Chris and Chris Keys for "Sudden Death" being sampled on the final track though. A Lizzo album is a massive placement. I hope they get their flowers from the public.

Special is an album that won't blow you away but is ultimately not a bad body of work. I feel like it shows flashes of what her next album could (and should) be, but as a whole, it's a regression in quality from her previous project. Lizzo is a very charismatic and creative individual, so I don't think this album should be interpreted as her "falling off," but rather a bump in the road. Every artist experiences one, but how they recover varies. I'll still be looking forward to listening to what she does next.