After two years, Khalid is back with his new album Free Spirit. With such a hit first album, "American Teen," and a great follow up EP, "Suncity," I know I myself had high expectations. The entire album had the same, signature sad-boy vibe. A perfect album to listen to while going for a drive at sunset.
A theme throughout "Free Spirit" seems to be self-exploration and watching the company you keep. As someone that's close to his age, his tracks are relatable and replayable for ages.
Coincidentally, some of the best songs were the ones that were from his "Suncity" EP, but other winners included "My Bad," "Bad Luck," and "Twenty One." The album features two other creators: SAFE and John Mayer.
Alongside the album, a short film by the same title was released on YouTube. It can be watched here.
It was difficult to rank them in this way because they're all good, but some tracks are certainly better than others.
From the best...
"Bad Luck"
Out of all of the new songs that he's released on this album, this has to be the best. Its lyrics are by far the most relatable and the chill vibes that he produced make for an endlessly replayable song.
"My Bad"
This one is similar to "Bad Luck" — the chorus sticks with you
"Better"
This song seems to be a real staple in Khalid's discography. The beat in tandem with the quiet voice in the beginning of the song creates some sort of nostalgic song that one might listen to while driving down the highway alone in their car.*
*I would argue that all of his songs have this same capability, but this one especially.
"Saturday Nights"
I'm biased with song. I was shown this song before I really started listening to Khalid and it's what introduced me to him. It's a favorite of mine. I feel as though this is a song that is really indicative of his style, calm, RnB hits that send the listener into a trance.
"Twenty One"
As someone that's about to turn 21, I love this song. It's relatable and it's a bit different from the other tracks in the song in that it's less calm and more upbeat. You can really hear the power behind his voice that elicits goosebumps all over the body.
"Free Spirit"
As a title track, I think this is a perfectly suitable track for the album. It's a mixture of that upbeatness that we see in "Twenty One," but continues to remain somewhat calm and maintaining his theme of self-exploration and nostalgia.
"Self"
This song is really different. I remember listening to it for the first time and thinking, "Oh, this beat is really weird." It's almost too slow, but is still enjoyable. His voice compliments the slow beat nicely.
"Hundred"
Another upbeat song, Khalid's chorus is truly replayable. It's a song that I imagine would be in a quirky teen movie, but in the best way.
"Bluffin'"
To me, "Bluffin'" seems kind of sad-poppy to me. It's reminiscent of songs I already listen to and already don't love.
"Alive"
This was one of the firsts I truly didn't enjoy as much as the others. It's too slow and has a lot of reverb that seems unnecessary.
"Intro"
I struggled to place this one - I think it was great for an introduction, but it's definitely not a favorite. Again with the reverb and the background noise.
"Outta My Head"
Featuring John Mayer is right. this one sounds just like a John Mayer song, which is fine — I love me some John Mayer, but I came to listen to Khalid and not John Mayer.
"Heaven"
The sadder songs seem to have a theme — they're too slow, they're melancholy and generally not what I want to listen to. A lot of Khalid's songs have the same tone, but are played off differently and I genuinely enjoyed them.
"Talk"
I heard this one too much before the album itself came out. I still enjoy the song, but the song is so replayable that everyone around me played it so much that it just became background noise. It's the most different track from the entire album and yet still seems to follow the themes that he's created throughout the album.
"Paradise"
I have similar feelings to this one as I do with Heaven. It's got an almost reggae feel, and while I don't mind that, it's not typical and was honestly a little unexpected.
"Right Back"
"Right Back" is very formulaic.I feel like I've heard this song from a multitude of artists and I've come to hear things that I've never heard before.
"Don't Pretend"
The beat of "Don't Pretend" has almost too many layers to it. There are so many different things that are going on, it's hard to focus on everything and truly experience the song. I struggle to listen to the lyrics and find myself focusing more on the beat behind them, which isn't what I typically like to do when I'm listening to music.
