Album Review: Trixie Mattel — ‘Barbara’
Two long years after her acclaimed album One Stone — but a mere two months after her documentary-accompanying EP Moving Parts: The Acoustic Soundtrack — drag and music powerhouse Trixie Mattel is back with eagerly awaited new material.
This time, she’s taking us out of the countryside of Wisconsin straight to the beach of Malibu, California. Named after Trixie’s ultimate inspiration — the fashion doll Barbie — , the album Barbara also sees the singer-songwriting dabbling in electro-folk and surf-rock for the first time.
So pack your sunglasses and bathing suit, and let’s see how this sunny venture turned out.
Side A—The Uptempo Electro-Folk Bops
1. “Malibu” (9/10)
“Take me to the ocean blue; I don’t care, any beach will do.”
The album opens with a sonic ray of sunshine that clearly sets itself apart from Trixie’s earlier work and continues the style she’s adopted with standalone single “Yellow Cloud”.
Carried by a catchy-as-hell “ahh-ooh-ooh-ooh” hook, “Malibu” is the perfect musical representation of the traditional Barbie aesthetic and works amazingly well with Trixie’s own image. Lyrically, the surf-rock-inspired track isn’t nearly as complex as other Trixie songs — a feature that runs through the entire A-Side of Barbara — , but with the focus clearly on melody and sound, that’s perfectly fine.
All in all, “Malibu” is a strong start to the record that flawlessly attunes the listener to Trixie’s new direction.
2. “We Got The Look” (7/10)
“Glitter all on the street, it’s a runway to me.”
If you were sure we’d never get a typical “I run the runway”-fashion-drag-queen-song from Trixie, then take a deep breath — because this is it.
Granted, with its surf-rock instrumentation, perfectly fitting background vocals, and Trixie’s characteristic singing, “We Got The Look” still sounds distinctly like a Trixie Mattel song.
The lyrics, though, read more like a Manila Luzon and Miss Fame collaboration (Trixie’s gonna kill me if she ever reads this). They’re not terrible per se, but they simply don’t fit an artist who is highly capable of putting an interesting twist on pretty much every topic.
For some reason, Trixie doesn’t do it here. To a degree, that makes sense in the beachy Malibu setting of the record, but it’s disappointing nonetheless, leading to a 7/10 score for a song that — based purely on melody and beat — deserves more.
3. “Girl Next Door” (8/10)
“You left me going, now I’m going overboard.”
Sounding like a straight continuation of its two predecessors, “Girl Next Door” tells a fairly simple story of affection. The writing feels a lot more like traditional Trixie again, while the melodies are solid but not amazing.
Really, the feelgood verses are stronger than the chorus, which isn’t terribly exciting. It’s a truly great song, but it’s not Trixie at her very best.
Truth be told, “Girl Next Door” might’ve gotten a higher rating if it were on a different record, but given the two absolute masterpieces that follow it, the difference has to be made clear.
4. “Jesse Jesse” (10/10)
“I know that you’re married, and separation can be scary. Well, now you see her, now you don’t.”
Wow. Trixie Mattel already debuted “Jesse Jesse” prior to the album’s release, and I’ve been obsessed ever since.
Closing the A-Side of Barbara, the uptempo song bridges the gap between electro-folk and the more laid-back country-folk we find on the B-Side. As such, it marries addictive hooks — especially in the sublime verses — with a lovely-turning-creepy love story.
The lyrics shine through again on this love song to actor Jesse Eisenberg, with Trixie starting to paint relatable images of being hooked on a film star, only to slip a geniously disturbing nod to Jesse’s wife into the bridge that gives the track another layer and makes it so much more interesting.
Once again: Wow.
Side B — The Traditional Country-Folk Ballads
1. “Gold” (9.5/10)
“I still remember where I was when the feeling changed and how I burned my tongue when the ceiling caved in.”
The second half of Barbara sees Trixie return to the country-folk sound we know and love, and what better way to do it than with the gem that is “Gold”?
A meditation on the end of a relationship, the ballad has by far the strongest lyrics on the record, sucking you into the tiny world it paints with simple words and smooth internal rhymes.
The chorus is, frankly, among the top three of Trixie’s musical creations — if not a strong contender for number one. Everything comes together sublimely here — melody, lyrics, atmosphere, vocals.
The only little criticism that prevents “Gold” from scoring a perfect 10/10 is that the instrumental build-up during the song seems to take away from its message rather than support it. The second verse, in particular, just sounds better with the more stripped-back instrumentation Trixie uses in live performances.
2. “I Don’t Have A Broken Heart” (7/10)
“The more I push the more he pushes back, and we start again.”
Can you not easily imagine this with Dolly Parton’s voice? The writing on “I Don’t Have A Broken Heart” is very similar to Dolly ballads, which means it’s effective but also a little … well, simple and straightforward, for Trixie standards.
As with “We Got The Look”, that’s what slightly holds this song back. It’s a solid ballad, one many will be able to identify with, but unlike most Trixie songs it’s not something we haven’t heard a few times before.
3. “I Do Love You” (9/10)
“You never say never, but you never say when.”
Fortunately, this song is far better than its boring title suggests. Talking about the negative attributes of a loved one, “I Do Love You” is certainly relatable in its refreshingly realistic depiction of love. It’s on par with some of the best Trixie ballads we’ve grown to love, like “I Know You All Over Again” or “Heavy Crown”.
The verse melodies are also great, while the “and I do, and I do like you” pre-chorus works well with the added chorus part that follows it. The bridge, though, is the best part of the song that bumps it up to a 9/10 score.
4. “Stranger” (9/10)
“All your favorite fantasies will come to an end. You’ll be waking up tomorrow needin’ a friend.”
A cover of the famous one-night-stand ode by gay country music pioneers Lavender Country, “Stranger” is only the second Trixie song she didn’t write (after “Keep On The Sunny Side” from Moving Parts: The Acoustic Soundtrack). Yet, its imagery and internal rhymes fit in perfectly with Trixie’s writing on the rest of the record, so that “Stranger” works amazingly well as a suitable closer to Barbara.
Interestingly, ending the record with “Stranger” — a song about looking for sex rather than a relationship — not only breaks with the traditional end-of-album-lovesong, but also parallels Trixie’s colleague Kacey Musgraves’ use of a similar topic on her song “It Is What It Is”, which closed her debut album Same Trailer Different Park.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
It’s fair to say that her trip to the beach paid off for Trixie Mattel. With Barbara, she explores interesting new soundscapes while retaining the remarkable writing style that has always defined her music.
With the exception of “We Got The Look” (which is fun, but doesn’t necessarily feel like an authentic Trixie song) and “I Don’t Have A Broken Heart” (which is relatable, but a little too simplistic), the tracks on Barbara keep up the high quality of Trixie’s music, taking us to new and familiar places.
All that’s left to say is that “Yellow Cloud” in all its brilliance should really have been included on this album. And that “Gold” needs to get a proper music video at some point.
