Reneé Rapp - Snow Angel (Deluxe)
by Ellie Polen
Former Broadway star Reneé Rapp showcases her powerhouse vocals in her debut album Snow Angel with a voice that transcends the boundaries of music. Each note resonates with a depth of feeling, carrying them on a journey through realms of passion, heartbreak, confusion and even pure hatred. Snow Angel (Deluxe) is a testament to Renee Rapp's extraordinary talent, and brings an important outlook on hard-to-describe emotions.
Rapp began her career by landing a leading role as Regina George in Mean Girls on Broadway. Following that, she made her presence more known in the Max series, The Sex Lives of College Girls. She previously released an EP called Everything to Everyone where the TikTok hit “In The Kitchen” is what made her name known in the music industry.
Rapp has shared in the past that she takes inspiration from classic pop and R&B music. She uses instruments such as drums and guitar on her more upbeat tracks and slows down her ballads with gentle piano chords. With the help of producer Alexander 23, the two collaborated to piece together the album while pushing one another’s boundaries. The original version contained 12 songs, but with the deluxe version that followed two months later, Rapp released four more tracks including a remix to the song “Tummy Hurts” featuring Coco Jones.
Rapp opens the album with “Talk Too Much.” This lively, groovy track encapsulates the feeling of becoming so absorbed in your own head that every experience seems to reveal some deep insight about the downfall of your current relationship. Rapp coos, “And if it rains, then it rains / And we’ll be over by May / That’s just the deal that I made (In my head).”
Within the album, a range of songs delve into specific and unique emotional states. For instance, in "Poison Poison," Rapp explores the intense dislike for someone to the point of saying they could metaphorically "poison poison." One of the ballads on the album, “I Hate Boston,” shows how an individual can ruin an entire city, and now “the whole place is haunted.”
In “The Wedding Song,” Rapp intricately describes how she wrote the most amazing love song for someone, a song that “would’ve played at every wedding night.” She belts a chorus full of love and admiration and explains that the song “went something like that.” At the bridge however, she yells, “Why’d you have to mess it all up? / Why’d you have to burn it all down?” What was once a beautiful love song was ruined by heartbreak, and Rapp does an amazing job taking listeners on this unique rollercoaster of emotions.
In the track, “Snow Angel,” Rapp belts the last bridge in a way unable to describe in words, you just have to listen. She reminisces on her past and how it still affects her today by beginning, “I met a boy / He broke my heart / I blame him ‘cause / It’s easier…” It’s impossible to listen to this track without feeling immensely moved by her raw emotion.
Rapp also has a sense of humor, and it’s made quite apparent within this album. Especially in the song “Tummy Hurts,” where she seemingly curses an entire family bloodline by saying a couple’s kids will turn out to be monsters “like their mother and their father.” A stand-out line from the album is nested within this song, “I just want some recognition for having good tits and a big heart.”
One of the newer tracks on the deluxe edition, “Messy,” carries the theme of ruining something good with overthinking. She sings, “Trust me as soon as you go / I’ll make fake scenarios / Where I say, ‘I love you,’ you say, ‘Gross.’” Even though this song has sad lyrics, she transforms it into an upbeat track with a fast tempo that makes you want to dance and sing using your hairbrush as a microphone.
Another sad addition to the album, “I Do,” continues to play on the theme of weddings. It unleashes the feeling of loving someone more than they love you. It encapsulates the raw emotions of feeling like you’re not enough, and even goes on to imagine that the person you love might end up marrying someone else.
Rapp experiments with unique sounds and themes that makes her songs stand out from typical pop music. With her Broadway background, her vocals are comparable to pop superstars such as Ariana Grande and beyond. This was an exceptional debut album and it will be exciting to see how Rapp continues to progress with her musical abilities.