A new independent duo is coming out strong with their debut album self-titled “strongboi.” This duo featuring established artist Alice Phoebe Lou and her friend Ziv Yamin started the duo in 2019. They have since come out with six singles leading up to their seven single EP. Their music would be categorized as indie/alternative. This duo is bringing a new groovy sound that indie music desperately needs. 

*I will be explaining from my perspective what these songs mean to me. Everyone’s interpretation will be different.

“Fool Around”

The song starts with a very sweet-sounding melody. The melody then transitions into the soothing voice of Alice Phoebe Lou. The tempo throughout the song stays upbeat. Alice moves between higher notes and lower notes adding angel-like ad-libs to the background to help tie their sound altogether.  This song is explaining how someone doesn’t exactly understand your feelings and what someone may want out of a relationship. Alice says in the song “I don’t want to fool around waiting for you to call me” insisting she wants to be with this person but doesn’t know how to tell them her feelings. 

“Ugi”

A drum solo carrying a funky guitar solo starts this song off on the right foot. Compared to “Fool Around”, this song is slower-paced and gives a new perspective to the duo. The funky guitar continues throughout the song and helps bring out Alice’s vocal style throughout the song. When Alice isn’t singing the drums go off and the guitar continues. The meaning of this song is about wanting to get back with someone. She explains how she and this person belong together but they don’t quite see it. She states “could you start a new mission, take time for yourself and call me right after”. She wants this person to understand themselves and then go right back to her. 

“Cold”

A robotic beat starts and then proceeds with a funky melody for the intro. This song is slow-paced just like “Ugi”. Alice stays in mostly the same range throughout the whole song only going high on the end notes. Her voice style with this song gives a jazz feel to it. The meaning of this song is not wanting to be away from their partner because without them they’re cold hence the name. She says “it’s a little cold when you’re gone but I think that I can handle it”. It is about just loving being in someone’s presence and when people are in that person’s presence, they feel warm and comfortable.

“Meilia (remix”)

This song starts with a groovy guitar and Alice doing angelic adlibs in the background. She sings this song in a more low tone and monotone voice. The guitar and funky background kind of drowns out her voice but I can see what the duo was going for with that. Even though her voice is drowned out you can still hear her beautiful angelic voice throughout. Compared to different songs she speaks important lines between the chorus. The meaning of this song is about not wanting your heart to be played with. She states “Don’t play with my heart I wanna play but not that kind of game, no”. She quite literally repeats that line throughout the whole song and then decides at the end that she will play with their heart instead.

“Flame”

 The song starts with a tambourine and a slow beat throughout the introduction. The beat is like a slowed-down disco song. Alice stays in the same vocal range throughout and only goes to a higher range during the chorus. Compared to Meilia her vocals aren’t being drowned out; instead they are more projected. The meaning of this song is seeing someone in the best way possible but they don’t see themselves that way. She wants to be with this person but is scared they’re better than she is. She doesn’t want to compete for their love but instead just floats on cloud 9. This person walks around like no one can touch them aka a flame.

“Unconditional (feat. Salami Rose Joe Louis)”

This song starts with more of a 1 -2 beat. The beat then does a shimmer sound effect preceding Alice’s voice. Her voice is more soothing and calm in this song compared to the others. She keeps her voice calm and slow but goes into high notes with ease. The 1-2 beat continues but adds a guitar melody throughout the song. The meaning of this song is being confused about how someone may feel. She sings about how she loves someone and that she is a better person when she is around them but they pretend they care about her. She would love them unconditionally if only they would let her.

“Butter”

This song starts with the beautiful sounds of nature and then transitions into a soft guitar. Alice’s voice is soft throughout the song which helps tie into the nature sounds at the beginning. The beat after the first verse changes to an upbeat melody sound and so does her voice then verse 2 she transitions back into the nature sounds of the beginning. The song then continues this transition until the end. This song is the longest song on the album being 5 minutes. The meaning of the song is wanting to start something new with someone. She says,  “before I start imagining the end I’ll go to the beginning with you”. She is implying she will not think badly about the relationship aka the end but start thinking about the beautiful beginning. 

I really enjoyed this album. I personally thought it was meaningful and fulfilling for their first album. I really enjoyed the introductions to all the songs and how Alice’s voice would help combine with the groovy sounding beats. I rate this album an 8.5/10 so I highly recommend giving it a listen. 

*Specific songs to give a listen to: “Fool Around”, “Ugi”, “Cold”, and “Flame”