Chicago-based band Beach Bunny released its first album “Honeymoon,” on Valentine’s Day. The album has been a long time coming for fans after gaining fame from social media and past EPs.
The new album follows Beach Bunny’s previously released music and faces the ups and downs of relationships, including moments that sometimes feel better left alone. The band tackles internal conflicts, such as unrequited love, intimacy issues and insecurities.
Though the lyrics are often melancholic, most songs on the album have a similar beach feel with an alternative kick. Almost every song has the sound to be featured in a coming-of-age story with a signature rock hook featured notably throughout “Honeymoon.”
The lead singer of the pop-surf group, Lili Trifilio, started the project in 2015 when she produced the song “6 Weeks,” and started her journey of releasing music.
The band got a surge of exposure through TikTok. A previously released song “Prom Queen,” off of the EP of the same name took social media by storm. The song criticizes beauty standards through blatant lyrics.
“Maybe I should try harder / You should lower your beauty standards / I’m no quick-curl barbie / I was never cut out for prom queen,” Trifilio sings.
Though “Prom Queen,” tells the story of grief-wrapped insecurities, “Honeymoon” takes on a different form through each song.
“Honeymoon” takes on a similar melancholic tone with the same relatable lyrics that Beach Bunny’s fans have heard before. The difference in this album, though, is that Trifilio tackles the issues presented from a more mature standpoint.
In “Dream Boy,” she acknowledges her romantic interest in someone she could be potentially idealizing and feels the need to communicate any feelings due to her past in relationships.
The song outlines a paradoxical chorus, explaining that she has potentially met the person of her dreams and is planning to meet them. Irony comes in when she explains that she doesn’t let too many people into her heart and that she doesn’t want the relationship to go wrong.
“If you’re gonna love me, make sure that you do it right / I’ll be under your window in the moonlight / Oh, I tend to keep my heart locked water-tight / All you gotta do is meet me after, meet me after midnight,” Trifilio sings.
Later in the album, “Cloud 9” takes on a cyclical form of loving throughout Beach Bunny’s discography. Trifilio sings about loving through what appears to be rose-colored glasses.
“But when he loves me, I feel like I’m floating / When he calls me pretty, I feel like somebody / Even when we fade eventually, I’m nothing / You will always be my favorite form of loving,” she sings.
In the lyrics, she states that when the relationship — of whatever form — has grown past the two people in it, she’s no longer important.
This is a large difference from the lyrics that place what seems like an incredible amount of reliance on the relationship and the person giving her validation.
The push and pull throughout “Honeymoon” are pressures or insecurities that a lot of people feel in romantic relationships, along the more sad nature of a younger love.
The new album has a consistent sound, which all fans will be thrilled with through every listen. While it sounds like the content of the music has a bit of maturing to undergo, listeners are able to marvel at the first official album, along with the tour dates and look forward to the sophomore album.
