By: Maple Graham

On March 20th, underscores (a.k.a. April Harper Grey) released her third studio album: ‘U’. It’s a short, 9-track, 34 minute album; it never overstays its welcome and is far from uneventful. The focus of the album is the prospect of catching feelings for someone and getting into a relationship with them. Throughout the course of the album, April (who is April herself, presumably presented in a realistic, yet fictionalized manner; all of the things brought up here could’ve happened, but there’s no evidence that this world is non-fictional) and her love interest begin to drift apart, and ultimately, the other person ends up leaving for someone else. This leaves April alone once more—treasuring their former relationship, stating “I’ll wish you well forever, no, this ain’t what I had imagined / That’s just how it happened” during “Wish U Well,” the finale of the album. It’s a playful yet melancholic album; it does what it strives to do without any extra fat around the edges.

The album leans heavily into underscores’ electronic influences, much more than her previous works of ‘Fishmonger’ and ‘Wallsocket’, but still keeps acoustic elements around for a satisfying blend of the two. ‘U’ is also less lyrically dense than ‘Wallsocket’, leading some fans to dislike it as most of the songs can be understood without understanding the references that come with the lyrics. The average person could understand a song like “The Peace” from ‘U’, that being a song about “trying to keep the peace” with someone else despite the relationship being detrimental to both parties—compare that to “Uncanny long arms” from ‘Wallsocket’: a song about a character named Mara getting an epiphany after dying and getting resuscitated during her arm reduction surgery, then cancelling it even though doing so would continue to fuel her obsession with another character present in the album. And no, in that latter example, none of that is explicitly mentioned in the song—instead being prior knowledge you get through a “government” website for the fake town of Wallsocket, Michigan that April set up before the release of the album. Taking all that into account, it’s apparent why a handful of fans felt disappointed at the lack of a story ‘U’ had, but the majority liked the collection of music that didn’t try to be anything more.

The rest of the article will now be my opinions and rough descriptions of the songs within the album—if it interests you at all, I suggest listening to the album yourself instead of letting me spoil the surprises through my review.

“Tell Me (U Want It)” is a solid opening to the album (as well as the third and final single of the album), and it certainly is a lasting first impression. While not revealing ‘U’’s true intensity quite yet, it still fuses a mix of dubstep–esque sounds with an acoustic guitar wonderfully, creating an addicting chorus—then subverting all expectations at the end by stripping away the instrumental sounds, leaving only raw vocals with whistling, synthesized chirping, and a simple kick pattern to compliment it. The lyrics themselves illustrate April’s skepticism towards others, only trusting people if they’re really trying to form a relationship with her, and not just people who want to use her for her status or fame, or judge her for who she is. The song cycles through past people and their flaws: “Livi thinks that I’m in over my head / Dropping old interests, changin’ my hair / Amanda says that I’m not on the right track / ‘You’ll hate looking back,’ I told her, ‘I’m well aware’” being a couple examples from the lyrics. I personally enjoyed this track—giving it a 83/100.

“Music” was the first single released within ‘U,’ and the second song of the album. Losing no momentum attained within the first song, it doubles down on the synthesizers, creating a maximalist hyperpop soundscape that’s hard to get out of your head. This song is about April meeting someone new, and becoming interested in them, with “And I don’t know what to do / Never gelled this well with someone / I just want to catch up to you / And I don’t know where it comes from” being admitted during the second pre-chorus, showing the growing feelings she has, and the foreboding presence of an obsession. This song blew me away from a production standpoint when it first released last summer, and it continues to hold up as one of the best songs on the album, giving this song an 88/100 from me.

Being the longest song within the album, “Hollywood Forever” is a bit of a doozy. Despite its 6-minute runtime, it’s fleshed out well and has frequent switch-ups that aren’t too intrusive. It also progresses and builds on itself, which becomes a recurring theme with the songs that aren’t singles on the project—the only deviation from this is “Bodyfeeling.” It follows April as she can afford “everyday indulgence” through her newfound virality, which is something she didn’t grow up with. During the chorus, the other person tries to reason with her by repeating “And you say, I’m so, I’m so Hollywood? / Well, aren’t we all so, all so Hollywood? / And you think I’m so, I’m so Hollywood? / You gotta let go,” the same argument over and over, that she’s no worse than anyone else. Later in the song; about halfway, April beckons her love interest, saying “Don’t you wanna / Don’t you wanna / Don’t you wanna become famous with me” to get them to adapt to her lifestyle and status. I would give this song an 84/100; it’s ingenious but ultimately a bit long for my tastes.

“The Peace” is the shortest song on ‘U’, entirely made up of underscores’ vocals. I really liked the production on this one, and it’s a shame this song is a bit of an outlier from the other songs on this album. The lyricism depicts April’s crumbling relationship with another person, both falling into old habits like addiction with the other as they “just wanna keep the peace,” and they do so by smoking and spending time together. As stated before, underscores’ vocal harmonies are phenomenal, and I give this a solid 90/100 for both sound and creativity.

“Innuendo (I Get U)” crescendos into easily the best coda of the album—seconded only by “Lovefield.” It was my favorite upon my first listen to ‘U’, and although I’ve grown on the project as a whole, this is still a really fun listen. The lyrics are less than dazzling, that being April believes that the relationship she has is only for sexual pleasure, saying “It’s just like I already know / Well, you don’t gotta say another word / ‘Cause I already know your type of girl / You don’t gotta talk to me / I know what you want from me / It’s finally time for me to get a turn”: she lets the situation escalate before finding out that “[she’s] really not [their] type of girl.” I’d rate this an 85/100 for how carefully crafted this feels, the production is bedazzling and it’s truly something special.

The coda of “Lovefield,” as stated before, is unrivaled on ‘U.’ This is, as April calls it, a “heart to heart” with the person she likes. It’s an interlude of sorts, dropping the playful and affectionately brash attitude and being real for a moment: she’s beginning to lose the grip she once had on that other person, explaining that “Every time I hang with you (You) / We don’t know what we’re supposed to do / God, is this forever, ever? / I’d just forget it, but I can’t, I can’t / You’re just outsidе the Lovefield,” highlighting how it’s beginning to feel like she can’t hold a relationship anymore. She also says “Hand on my shoulder, I recoiled / Is the Lovefield really getting smaller? / I don’t wanna be untouchable anymore” during the bridge of the song, showing her mental vulnerability to any relationship she has, and how she feels herself becoming “untouchable” to the people around her. This song is an 86/100 for me; it’s not the best on the album, but it’s still memorable.

Falling back into energetic electro-pop, “Do It” immediately takes the unguarded atmosphere and shatters it. Being the second single released along with its own accompanying choreography, it’s a change to ‘U’ that isn’t really expected. It feels disingenuous in a way—everything she said during “Lovefield” comes across as a lie, which also sets up the last two songs of the album. Future connections aside, this song is about trying to find a relationship again, with the verses consisting mostly of questions: “What are your prospects? / Do you make your own cash? […] If I left for three months / And I turned my phone off / Would you wait here for me? […] What is my net worth? / How does my song go?” being examples of said questions. April also touches on the detail of “I’m married to the music, the music, baby” at the bridge of the song—she feels like she can’t ever have a meaningful relationship with someone when music is in her life. I rate this an 89/100, this song is one of my favorites and gets stuck in my head often.

“Bodyfeeling” is a minimalist, catchy experience depicting April experiencing negative feelings towards her love interest, noticing “I get a body feeling I never tell you about / I get a body feeling, the one I keep shutting down / I get a body feeling, but I’ll ignore my body for you, for you”—yet pushing them to continue a relationship with them. It has a much less extravagant production, but is still masterfully done—instead of her composition wizardry shining here, it is instead her own vocals. I give this an 80/100 for its rememberability, yet also docking points since its instrumental is slightly lackluster compared to the rest of this project.

The finale of ‘U’ doesn’t disappoint; “Wish U Well” is a song about April breaking ties with the relationship, and either person going their separate ways. April ends up encountering this person by chance in public, seeing her former love interest with another person, and she sees herself in that other person, saying “You’re walking to the corner store, you’re interlocking arms / She looks just like me / In a way, it’s beautiful.” She additionally wishes him well, harboring no hard feelings to him. It’s a slightly melancholic finish, but I don’t think this album could have a better end. Even though it has its strengths, it’s still nothing unpredictable, so I give this a modest 78/100. Don’t be fooled though, this is still a very good song—the entire album is definitely worth a listen if you’re into electronic music.

Overall, I give ‘U’ an 84/100. This was certainly an experience, and though it’s not as polarizing as something like Porter Robinson’s ‘SMILE! :D’ or Patricia Taxxon’s ‘Pix & Bit,’ it’s still a consistent album that feels the perfect length. If you’ve read this far, I highly encourage you to listen to the full album, and the rest of the underscores discography if you haven’t already!