“Reflection” Offers Some Fresh Beats

This is the album cover for Fifth Harmonys Reflection.

This is the album cover for Fifth Harmony’s “Reflection.”

Monica Brewer

by Monica Brewer

After their run on X-Factor as a group during the second season, Fifth Harmony has received some major attention.  Formed from the mind behind One Direction (Simon Cowell) and because of the group having four hits on American soil (“Me & My Girls,” “Miss Movin’ On,” “Bo$$,” and “Sledgehammer”), it solidified Fifth Harmony’s spot to stay relevant in 2014.  Girl or boy groups usually last only a couple years at most, but there has been some exceptions like NSYNC, One Direction, and Destiny’s Child; but I feel that these girls could be the next One Direction.

Their debut album Reflection left me with some music that I would replay again.  The beats the album has are some that I would play at any point in the day when I need some cheering up.  Those beats off of their 14 song deluxe album include “Going Nowhere” and “Everlasting Love,” and “Like Mariah.”  Even if the message in “Everlasting Love” is about a guy, the music in this song slips by my radar and allowed me to replay the song over five times without getting bored.  The message in “Going Nowhere” is taking control and having a guy listen to what you have to say.  To me, that is some serious girl power.  The song “Like Mariah” is… very different.  Featuring Tyga, the song’s lyrics show comparison in a girl’s actions from a guy to “singing like Mariah.”  I can overlook the fact that all three of these songs revolve around guys because of the different variety of beats that all three songs provide.

All 14 songs in the deluxe album offer different tastes and type of messages.  The title song for album, “Reflection,” has some insight about a person giving compliments is not about their partner, but about their reflections in a mirror.  “Them Girls Be Like” offers the view of girl empowerment, but according to a directlyrics.com review of this song, they quoted that it “may have a self-empowerment message as its DNA but the song is so boring I think all girls out there will have stopped playing it before they get Fifth Harmony’s self-empowerment energy.”  I have to disagree because it has a rhythm that can get you through the song, and when you hear a chorus of certain song over 10 times,you can’t get it out of your head.  It’s an infectious earworm.

Overall, this album has music that I could probably sing and listen to over and over again.  I had my doubts with this album with my last experience to Title from Meghan Trainor, but I did like it.  These songs grasped me by hand and pulled me along for the ride. Other than some disappointments in the album (mostly “Body Rock”,) I liked almost everything else.  I hope amazing things happen to these girls, because they have a good thing going for them.