Phoning it All in: Fefe Dobson's 'EMOTION SICKNESS'

FEFE DOBSON: EMOTION SICKNESS

SCORE: 65/100 - 6.5

After a 13 year gap in albums - Canada's own Fefe Dobson returned to the pop-punk scene with 'EMOTION SICKNESS'; her most spur of the moment project yet, but still a solid effort from the punk princess. 

Despite a solidly eye-catching set of instruments backing her, Dobson's vocals seem unfamiliar and her sound becomes too juvenile to feel like an improvement in her maturity. 'EMOTION SICKNESS' manages to feel even more immature than her previous projects - and not in a teenage blues way, in an "adult who can't move on from her teenage heartbreaks" way. One of the best things about Dobson's first two and even three albums is the writing, her lyrics were sharp, highly mature, and oftentimes witty while still being highly relatable. And although the content of this album warrants the title of relatable for some crowds - the mismatched quality of writing compared to the stunning producorial palate makes the album a mixed dive.

There are some moments of greatness that lie inside of the tracks with some of her best produced work yet - it mixes the electropop sound of 'Joy' while still embedding her signature punk elements into every note, and there's something that manages to keep this album captivating despite some misses. The poor quality of the writing may stem from the process only spanning over two months (for reference, her other albums took a year/two years to write); making it her quickest project to "throw together" despite the gap taken in between albums.

The songs are catchy, and Dobson sounds like a reinvented version of herself while still keeping her past in tact - and it feels like a brand new era rather than something catered to her fans; if you had told me any of these songs were by Fefe Dobson without me having any added context? I wouldn't quite believe you. 

For a modern leap from the 2010's electropop boom to the 2020's version of pop punk, Dobson did a fine job.