Best Ex is one of the best executions of a scene-gone-pop artist. With A Smile delves into many themes: exes, loves, anxiety, OCD, womanhood, and self-doubt. The title itself is a reference to society’s expectations of how women should present themselves. It’s a lot to tackle in forty minutes, but Loveland proves that she knows how to craft a concise album.
A lush introduction sets the stage. It indicates the conscientiousness of With A Smile: grandiose, but not exhausting; slick, but not ritzy. Loveland’s time in the music business is on display on the second track, “Tell Your Friends”, with its sharp, tight melodies. “Tell Your Friends” is supported by beautifully layered production, which is prevalent throughout the record. Its twelve tracks have a winning variety of song structures, instrumentation, catchy melodies, dance-worthy hooks, and lyrics alternately sly, smart, and sweet.
“Tell Your Friends” brings the sly slights with lines like: “For all of the girls who came after me / Did they know they signed up / To be a single mom / To a 30-year-old who already has one?” On the flip side, “Stay With Me” is bittersweet. The singer pleads with the subject over a mid-tempo waltz time, which suggests one final dance before they go their separate ways. “Joyride” slips in a dose of sweetness, as Loveland sings about meeting her husband. “Daylight” closes the album, and what a closer it is: Loveland drops the witty conversational bent and lets her poetic metaphors shine. It’s a surefire favorite for the sad kids.
“Loveland proves that she knows how to craft a concise album. ”
For all of its pristine crystalline textures, With A Smile never feels impersonal. Rather, almost every track is a personal concert as Loveland seems to be speaking to the listener. You are her best ex; the worst boy she’s ever known and yet can’t get over; her best friend she’s borrowing an ear or two from. You are the “what-if” and the “why-not”. Although she writes to women, Loveland’s expert songwriting creates an easy avenue for the natural human desire for empathetic self-insertion.
Women are constantly and cruelly expected to smile through everything they experience. It’s a constant struggle, and undoubtedly the sun disappears often. Loveland writes for women, but everyone can take something from this album. Everybody loses sight of the truth and beauty in life for all the darkness, but the sunshine in summer and warm blankets in winter remind people of the beauty. Like Loveland says, “I’m not a total cynic, I’m just an exhausted introvert.” This record will appeal especially to those tired hearts, but With A Smile has a song to cry to, laugh to, or sing along to for anyone willing to listen. And that’s something to smile about.
Best Ex’s debut record is a smart, lovely accomplishment. While it doesn’t reinvent the indie pop wheel, it doesn’t need to in order to provide an excellent vehicle for Loveland’s craft. It’s got big hooks, it’s got gorgeous instrumentation, and it’s got memorable lyrics for her exhausted audience, like: “From where I’m standing / The skyline, it looks big enough / To hide all of the bodies / Of the dreams it’s crushed.” This is music for those who have dreamt big and lost; this is music for everyone. So, as the nights get longer, the blankets thicker, and the mugs bigger, Best Ex’s With A Smile is the ideal album to snuggle up with and spin.