Canadian Audiophile's Reviews and News

Ashlee Simpson’s Bittersweet World is a surprising throwback to playful 80s pop, showing another side of her personality with reckless abandon. The album, sure to be under fire from some critics and celebrated a great deal by most fans, contains plenty of vivacious rhythm and snappy melodies. In fact, the scrutiny applied to the record by pallid critics with no souls is vastly hollow this time around. With Bittersweet World, Ashlee has taken two steps forward.

The Baltimore Sun appears to be among the hardest hitters, complaining that Simpson “doesn’t know which year it is” on her latest. The problem with this critique is that the format works with her unexceptional voice and enables the focus to be put on the captivating melodies and the taut production, which is a hell of a smart move for the artist forever associated with SNL lip-synching.

Sure, we all know she committed a cardinal music sin and should never be heard from or seen again. Lip-synching in pop music is as rare as the baiji, right?

With Bittersweet World, Ashlee half-pleads with us to forget about all of that and focus on what matters: pop music. When much of the talk about the younger Simpson is going to be about whom she’s with romantically or her plastic surgery or her father, most of the talk should be about the likeable pop grooves found on the new record.

“Murder” finds Ashlee working with Timbaland. The tracks bounce and Timbaland’s addition is up to his usual standards, creating a tight pop track with a lethal beat. “Rule Breaker” is a disobedient track with some of the best lyrics on the album and “Boys” is “Lovefool” by The Cardigans piled on top of a charming package of rhythm and firm synthesiser.

Simpson moves things from the guitar-driven Hills-esque stuff of previous albums to a more electro-pop flow, which is a rock-solid move for her.

The dance-pop of “Outta My Head” is infuriatingly addictive and the music video matches the tone completely. With “Ragdoll” having single written all over, Ashlee appears geared up to enter new territory with Bittersweet World. Typical to pop form, she tells off the paparazzi with “What I’ve Become.” The tune also works as a firm teen angst anthem and the production is great.

Bittersweet World won’t move mountains, but it is a fun album with some surprises. It often feels like the album Gwen Stefani keeps trying to make, but comes across as more compacted and likeable. The melodies are addictive, the songs are impressive, and the production capably works with the weaknesses in Ashlee’s voice to spin out an animated set of tunes.

7/10