color theory – Soccer Mommy
★ ★ ★ ★
Color Theory follows on the heels of 2018’s Clean, doubling down on Soccer Mommy’s dreamy brand of indie pop while injecting some more flavour. Despite its more melodic nature, the album is still lacking somewhat in substance, and at times ends up feeling like a glorified rehash of the music and themes explored on Clean.
Frontwoman Sophie Allison’s morose delivery is a staple of her music at this point, yet by the end of the album it becomes slightly grating. Despite the tiresome quality it begins to take on, it does play to her strengths for the majority of the ten songs on the album – a particularly noteworthy example is ‘royal screw up’, a self-flagellating acoustic anthem that begins sparsely and slowly adds instrumentation as it meanders on.
‘yellow is the color of her eyes’ is a standout, clocking in at a lengthy 7 minutes and 15 seconds. Psychedelia-tinged riffs and Allison’s plaintive vocals combine to form a smooth and almost otherworldly tune that finishes with a healthy drenching of heavily distorted guitar noodling. The reverb-soaked stylings found on ‘night swimming’ are also a pleasant switch-up from the album’s norm.
Matthew Derwin – Music Editor
