Benson Boone misses a beat on 'American Heart', but still manages to land a fun album
An artist’s sophomore album is often considered the most important in a career.
A debut is usually populated with songs that have stewed for months or years. But once success lands with a wallop, as it did for Benson Boone, the stakes are elevated with the prevailing attitude of, "You impressed us once, so what’s next, kid?"
“American Heart,” Boone’s follow-up to his 2024 debut, “Fireworks & Rollerblades,” proves his durability as one of pop’s most intriguing new talents, known as much for his agile voice as the backflips he lands during live performances.
Any rumblings of two-hit wonder status following Boone, 22, after his chart-topping “Beautiful Things” and secondary offering “Slow It Down,” were quashed following the success of the first two singles from “American Heart," and an upcoming sold-out arena tour. The drum-loop driven “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” continued his chart streak, while “Mystical Magical,” with its interpolation of Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” in the chorus, enforces the ‘80s vibe that permeates his new album.
How Benson Boone pays tribute to rock history on new album
Boone has said that these 10 songs, which clock in at a taut 30 minutes, were inspired by Bruce Springsteen. The title track – the last song on the album – does follow a Boss-esque blueprint of vivid storytelling (with the serious true-life recounting of a near-fatal car crash as a teen), but the music leans more Killers sheen than Springsteen muscularity.
The affable Boone deserves credit for schooling fans in rock history, as he famously did after inviting Queen guitar legend Brian May to join him at Coachella this year. And he also nods to the lush sounds of Electric Light Orchestra on the snappy “Mr. Electric Blue,” a lyrical ode to his father.
His mother also gets her due with the aptly titled “Momma Song,” a delicate piano ballad that morphs into a string-soaked emote-a-thon. “Drive me through the country, tell me your story and you can play all of your favorite songs/ ‘cause I’m gonna need this when I’m holding pictures of you and that’s all I’ve got left,” he sings. His heart-on-sleeve rumination about aging seems premature, but the authenticity from a guy who released his high-stakes album a few days before turning 23 shouldn’t be derided.
What distinguishes Boone from his current crop of peers is a pure voice that flutters into his upper register (the loping bop “Man in Me”) and, much like Jason Mraz's, can run a scale with seemingly effortless precision.
While some songs wobble – “Reminds Me of You” is toothless soul save for a mid-song breakdown of warped keyboards straight out of the Olivia Rodrigo playbook – much of “American Heart” showcases a nascent artist who confidently sticks the landing.