After an almost 11-year hiatus, star of Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire,” Hilary Duff returned Feb. 20 with her sixth studio album, “luck… or something.”
Duff doesn’t have much newfound maturity to compensate for her decade away in this new record. While she is now 38 years old, the album’s songwriting is indistinguishable from her teenage pop persona.
Luckily for Duff, songs don’t have to sound mature to be enjoyable to listen to. In fact, most of the standout tracks on “luck… or something” emulate Duff’s Disney roots in the best way.
“Weather For Tennis” is a single backed by acoustic guitar in its verses and 1980s-style clap percussion in its chorus. It’s a sassy country-pop tune perfect for summer drives with the windows down and reminiscent of Duff’s “Lizzie McGuire” sound.
Listeners like myself may wonder if “Future Tripping” is just a relatively stupid way to say anxiety. But the track is another upbeat, catchy song I can imagine hearing in a department store — and not in a bad way.
These upbeat numbers work well for Duff’s limited vocal range. Bubblegum pop songs with soft melodies are right up her alley, keep listeners’ ears happy and make for great karaoke choices.
“The Optimist” is a much-needed tonal break in the album, with down-to-earth acoustic instrumentals and a lower melody. Though refreshing to hear after five previous similarly-produced pop songs, the track falls short of the lyrical depth Duff attempts.
This is the point in the tracklist where Duff’s main weakness — songwriting — really starts to become the album’s undoing.
In “The Optimist,” she explores her complex relationship with a father who forced her into child stardom. The topic is emotionally rich and has recently been successfully breached by former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy and HBO docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”
However, Duff seems like she is trying to appeal to millennial quirkiness with clunky lyrics like “I wish I could sleep on planes / And that my father would really love me.”
“You, From The Honeymoon” seemingly describes Duff’s ex-husband, with inescapably cringe-inducing lyrics like “Your kind of freak matched my kind of freak.”
Duff recalls a past experience with an older man in “Mature.” This song may be thematically compared to Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well,” but awkward lyrics such as “going down on her on your vintage rug / Bet she’s so impressed by your Basquiat” keep me from holding it at the same level.
“Adult Size Medium” is the cherry on top of Duff’s bad-lyrics sundae. I almost paused the song after hearing “Smiling with our teeth, Habitually repeating / ‘I’m a bad b—h, please’” in the first verse. The bridge, “Turn-ons, tampons, edibles and booty calls,” made me lose my patience altogether; I was relieved to see that it was the album’s last track.
The first half of “luck… or something” is a fun listen that is perfectly suitable for streaming mixes or summer playlists. I cannot say the same about the remaining half.
Hilary Duff is not the first child star to struggle with adapting her art to fit her age. Hopefully her next project will reflect this one’s song titles, but with a mature sound that shows how Duff is growing up.
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