Jesse LaBelle’s sophomore album “Two” almost hits the mark

By: Sarah MacDonald –

The ingredients to a good pop song are as follows: repetition, uncomplicated lyrics, rising tension and a solid hook. But creating a good, solid, inexplicably wonderful pop song is tough. Pop music is like a mosquito bite: irksome but you’re going to end up scratching it over and over again because you just can’t control yourself. You’re going to go back to pop music, even if you don’t really want to.

Toronto native Jesse LaBelle continues his quest to perfect the pinnacle pop song with his sophomore album, Two. Pop music is grounded in themes of romance, youthful fun, and heartache. These elements appear all over Two, like the piano ballad “Kryptonite”, which is dedicated to the girl who is both the object of LaBelle’s affection and simultaneously breaking his heart. “Something to Feel” fits thematically as well, as the narrator is searching for a big event, “a car crash” as LaBelle sings, to knock them off of their tracks and get them back to some sort of normalcy. Isn’t that something we all kind of want? Maybe?

LaBelle’s first single, “Heartbreak Coverage”, feels like it could be played over a dramatic, thoughtful looking montage of some generic teen drama. It’s sweeping, big in scope, and I can just imagine some blonde, perfect, large-eyed teen girl looking around some dark room in a morose manner cut with a scene of a handsome dude walking in the rain.

The strength of this album, even if pop music isn’t your thing, is that it’s relatable. Everyone wants to feel loved, feel good, feel wanted, and essentially be part of something bigger and wholly awesome. LaBelle picks up many of these fundamental aspects but in a way that makes you want to sing into your hair brush or look soulfully into the setting sun on the horizon. Does the album have one perfect pop song? Not quite but LaBelle Is on the right track.