LISA: ALTER EGO

SCORE: 59/100

This album was one I was actually looking forward to when it released (although it got pushed too far onto my backburner of albums that never stops growing), I had heard the singles and especially enjoyed 'New Woman', so my expectations for the album were quite solid. LISA has always been my favorite member of BLACKPINK, and her debut helps to showcase her charisma as a soloist quite well (with the exception of some choices for the album that weren't as pleasant as others).

The issue with 'Alter Ego' is it plays it entirely too safe, with the standard sounds you would expect from a K-Pop project taking the very front center spot of the album - letting the more experimental tracks fall far and few in between. There are obvious highlights between the somewhat clunky trap songs and lackluster pop efforts - but it's still a palatable album for the most part despite being wildly inconsistent.

It's almost shocking how inconsistent this project wound up being. There are some great tracks - but they're buried between layers upon layers of messy songs that feel like a complete chore to get through. It uses the worst possible Western rap influences to make a messy trap-pop project that falls flat more often than it does anything worthwhile.

My expectations for the project went down before I actually got around to listening to it today - and rightfully so. The worthwhile moments are clouded almost entirely by weak tracks that have almost all of the elements that make K-Pop such a divided genre. It doesn't go outside of the very basic curve and it uses styles that clash too much to let the album flow properly almost at all.

'Alter Ego' had singles so promising that it made this album seem choppy in comparison. The non-single tracks make the singles seem out of the album's league - and it sets an entirely mixed expectation rate for the album; mixing lackluster tracks with very few genuine highlights that make a handful of songs more worth your time than listening to the entirety of the album.