a look back on 'SMILE! :D'

A few weeks ago as of writing, Porter released his third album SMILE! :D.
And Porter is by far by favourite artist and i adore all of their music, from worlds to nurture.

Sadly i didn’t have this blog when this album released, thus the “look back” part of this.
I’ll begin with just going over each song in the order in the album and then a conclusion

Knock Yourself Out XD

This is just a really great opener for the entire album.
The like 8bit like chip sound in the start, and sprinkles into some parts of the song is such a vibe.
And i can’t say much else on the music itself other than i vibe to it alot
and probably like a little above mid on the entire album in terms of ~vibeness~.

The lyrics and meaning is pretty interesting and represents something.
I get some goosebumps when reading the lines around “Crying at the airport, I’m sorry, can i get a pic?“.
The thing with like, it might be tuff for him, Porter, but a random fan or something wanting a picture
and that’s another reason not to quit, as the lyrics say, i liiike it.

“Don’t know my schedule on the fifth” is quite a funny line in retrospect, because a month ish later,
on june 5th, he dropped Russian Roulette. So i guess he did know his schedule on the fifth???

And Porter kinda slayed with the music video too, the fit was awesome. But rest in peace floaty flingy balloon thingies :(

Bitch, i’m Taylor Swiiiiift

Cheerleader

First off, hands down like a top 2 contester for the albums best song.
This was the first single to come out of the album and i can see why.

Listening to this just wants me to turn up the volume even more and scream “ITS NOOOT FAIIIIIR”.

Starting off with like the main melody of that like “screeching?” kind of sound is a banger,
and then directly going into a bit more relaxed but still pumped up section flows nice.
The build up towards the chorus is really satisfying and makes the chorus stand out just that bit extra.

And then again how it goes down towards a bit more relaxed, but yet still again active section is really nice.
The

It’s not fair’ cause i knew you like the back of my hands

line goes so hard,
I think that just might be the most repeated section out of the entire album. And like the most popular line.

I saw a video on twitter that was from the opening listening party in LA, and the entire crowd singing that line…
Oh man i got so many goosebumps, theres just something thing special about that line and seeing a group of people
that all love the same artist sing that together.

The music video was REALLY good, like probably the best one ive seen from his so far?
Like the transitions between digital and real life is sick, and the “matrix?” like warps and stuff is so coool.
He got some really great people working on that music video for real man.
The cheerleaders in the video are so adorable and their like little hip movement when the main melody plays is so cute.

Russian Roulette

There were a few songs in this album that i didn’t get into directly.
This was one of them, i was kinda “meh” on this until i had listened to it like 5-10 times.
Then it became more and more of a banger and a fucking great vibe.

Kinda surprised on how long this song is, clocking in at 6 minutes and 29 seconds, but damn those 6 minutes are fast.
The drums? drum kicks? go hard, once i noticed them i cant un-notice more than before.

The down, more like relaxed “sad?” part at around 4 minutes is something different.
Singing about what you wanna do one more time in life is oooo, the goosebumps.
And yeah, dying and not living anymore is hell. And i would rather lose my phone one more time than that.

And AAAAA, at 5:20, when the beat goes up and drops like that, ooooo i wanna put this on full blast.
The ending is also cool i guess? that robotic voice with the ending line of “Don’t kill yourself, you idiot” is so so true.

Perfect Pinterest Garden

This is well, probably my favourite track of the album,
either this or Easier to Love You, which ill cover later of course.

Like, the combo of the instruments, the flow of the song and lyrics just go together so damn well.
I don’t know how much else to describe this song, i can’t exactly put my finger on why.
But i really adore this song and the ~vibeness~ goes through the roof on this one.

And i thiink? that the whole title refers to a collection of photos from the site Pinterest,
that is so well put together and perfect that it’s unrealistic in a sense.

Year of the cup

I think this one by far is peoples least favourite one, from what i’ve heard.
And while i don’t think ANY of the songs in this album is bad, all of them is so fuckiiing goated.
I actually quite like this one, now i dont remember exactly whos interview the sound bytes are from.
But they do fit nicely, and parts where Porter actually sings is so sweet and more direct than some other songs.

The fourth verse, with the

I asked you, ‘If i never changed, would you love me?’ Expecting the negative …

is giving a ton of goosebumps and is adorable.

Like, the song is such a boop and really great and like, i cant express and or describe this all perfect.
But i’ll just say, if you read this far, go and listen to the entire album later and you’ll see.

Kitsune Maison Freestyle

This one is very similar to Russian Roulette in terms of how i thought about this song.
At first it was pretty “meh” (the entire album is chefs kiss but relative to the other ones), it was a bit “meh”.

But after the 9th or so listen, it kinda “clicked”? And became a boop instead.
I have no clue how this makes any sense but hey, thats Porter for you.

The chorus is just AAAAAA, fits so god damn perfect with the tone changes and how it trips down and up
and the following little speech about his teeth after the second or so chorus is like wtf how do you do that so well.

The cover art for this one is also pretty siick, the day this song went public (i think this was a single?)
He sold a ton of his designer clothes in LA, the same ones making up the cover art for the song.
And omg those worlds t-shirts some people got are so fucking sick, wtf give me some of them helloooooo

Didn’t you see this coming?

Is also a fucking masterpiece of a line, and the song during that moment, AAAAAAAAA

Easier to Love You

Probably my favourite one, hard to pin point one song to declare the best.
But if i had to, this one hands down.

I think from what ive heard and what i myself think, this one is for people to love themself
before other people can love them. Which is so true and self-love is really important.
Like i just do not care how other people think i look on a day to day basis.
But i do love my hair, and i like to think of myself as caring, understanding and often relatable to friends.
And to first love and accept who you, as a person are before anyone else can do. Is just so important.

So for those reasons and the meaning behind it. and the big big cozy more relaxed vibe is why i adore and love this one.
I’m a sucker for chill but still “active”? songs, Probably why Nurture is my favourite album of all times.

The cozy feeling of the song is so adorable, chill and relaxed.
The gitar and more chill lyrics and meaning makes me wanna cry.
This is a song i wont probably ever forget and will live with me.

And i was a bit surprised this song got a music video along side it.
what the fuck man, i wanna cry even more once i watched that.
Like spare me some tears man, i think i did cry when watching that at first.
It’s a really beautiful and well put together video with a very unique sting to it.

Mona Lisa

This at first glance is probably my least liked track in this album.
Again, still a boop, but relative to the other ones. The bar is high.

The song itself (not the lyrics) is the only meh part really. Which still is like 50% of the song but you know.
the message behind it and the lyrics are superb, really great actually.

The aggresive part of

Am i just one more face through the door?

is perfect. i love sudden, aggresive, “real”? change in singing. a few gooosebumps.

Sure, the chorus part is really great overall, even the instrumental part.
And a song i will always have in my playlists and listen to but most other ones here top this one.

Is There Really No Happiness

This is one the better ones for sure, the build up to the chorus with all the “uh”s is a vibe.
The lyrics in this one is probably the most “sing-a-longable” ones by far.

Making love to the memory, you’d think
I’ve been chasing the track and you’ve been watching me weep

goes hard and i just want to sing along that in my head.
This one also just fits where it is placed in the album, i often do care and notice in what order
songs are in and how they sometimes flow together. I adore albums that add transitions between songs
in the order they are on the album, its just a cool little neat detail.

And theres a ton of other small pieces of lyrics that is so likeable to sing to,
theres just something to this one that just clicks and gets the vibes going through the roooof.

Everything To Me

I noticed now when listening back to the album, that most relaxed songs is at the end.
And the more pumped, energetic ones is at the start of the album. Thats pretty damn neat actually.

I mentioned before im a sucker for these more relaxed, cozy ish songs. And this one ticks off all the checkboxes for that.
The gitar with the sometimes “hit” on the strings is like well, music to my ears.

The meaning and like, feeling and vibe of the song is almost making me cry now.
Most of the relaxed songs here has had love has it’s main point and i adore that.

I can vibe all day long to this one, any time of the day, in any moment.

It’s you and me

is such a sweet, hard hitting line. I had to mention it
And yes, i wanna crush him like a plushie please.

Conclusion

I became a Porter fan a few months after Nurture had released.
I discovered Nurture and Porter from another artist i love, which did a remix on one song.
Which led me to discover Porter and listen to the rest of Nurture and fall in love with it.

And while nothing yet has topped what Nurture is, and what it did for me.
Smile is for sure his second best album and has a ton of fucking bangers.
Cheerleader, Easier To Love You, Everything To Me & more. Which all rock.

Overall, a very very solid 9 / 10 on the Porter scale.

And i actually listened to the entirely of his first album: Worlds after the first two or so singles of Smile.
I had heard a few songs from it but not the entirety of that, like Lionhearted or Sea Of Voices is my favourite from that.
And while Porter only have made 3 albums, Worlds, Nurture and now Smile. Smile is at second place for sure.
Nurture is the best, and while Worlds is super good. It is very 2012 like and a bit too harsh at moments for me.

I will for sure be listening to this for years to come and it will top my Spotify wrapped at the end of this year.
And if you haven’t given it a listen yet, do so and maybe you’ll find a new favourite song (or artist??).

And some time in the future i can write a post about both Nurture (❤️) and Worlds.