If an album is called “It’s Not That Deep”, one may expect eleven tracks of infectious and playful dance pop that the three pre-release singles were alluding to. Yet, because this album is from Demi Lovato, audiences shouldn’t necessarily follow their own expectations. While still having utmost fun with pop music, Demi Lovato’s ninth studio album “It’s Not That Deep” serves as quite an introspective piece of work that encompasses not only the human experience, but her own journey. The first three tracks of the album (“Fast” “Here All Night”, and “Frequency”) take you step by step further into a euphoric landscape and night of letting go. After the enthralling “Frequency” (an easy highlight amongst the album), the album has a change of pace that almost feels shocking. It’s at that moment that “Let You Go” starts to let listeners into the introspective aspect of the album. Over a mid-tempo groove, Lovato sings from a place of peace about having to move forward from a past love (“Maybe we’ll be better as the memory / Even if it means that you’ll forget me / I think I need to let you go”). Going even deeper, “Sorry To Myself” picks up the pace over a track that’s reminiscent of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” to directly face the ways Lovato has held herself back (“I was the king of pain / I always found a new way to complain / And they say, “When you gonna change, honey?” / When you gonna face it? Why you gotta waste it? / I’m sorry to myself”).
The rest of “It’s Not That Deep” continues to teeter back and forth between effervescent and playful pop music that’s impossible to sit still to (“Little Bit”, “Say It”, “Kiss”) and quite introspective moments (“In My Head”, “Before I Knew You”, “Ghost”). By the end of the record, you realize how much of a journey Lovato really took you on throughout the record. The best way to summarize this album comes from the full context of the title in “Kiss”; “It’s not that deep unless you want it to be”. With how transparent Demi Lovato has publicly been about the ups and downs she has faced in life, this album marks a perspective that her past albums haven’t had. Peace and optimism. Not only is this album a breath of fresh air in today’s world, but it is a relief to see Lovato create from a space that isn’t burdened by inner turmoil. Timely both through an individual and cultural lens- Demi Lovato’s “It’s Not That Deep” is a creative rebirth that feels like a culmination of every past experience that has led to this current moment.
- Logan Bandi
