Tomorrow, Cassadee Pope will release her ninth album – Thrive – that beckons in a new era for Pope back toward her pop-punk roots.
Thrive is the 9th album by Cassadee Pope – following hot on the heels of her acoustic record Rise and Shine released last summer. Thrive takes a different approach, digging back into Pope’s pop-punk roots that laid the foundation of her career with band Hey Monday. It is not a complete 180 however, as the record is infused with the country storytelling that has been the path Pope walked over the past several years. Thrive is a collection of songs that represent where Cassadee is at this stage in her life – happy, confident, and healthy, brought to life under the direction of producers Nick Wheeler (All-American Rejects) and Karen Fairchild (Little Big Town) – role models who represent the best from both eras of her musical journey. It is a fresh path that kicks off a new era for Pope.
So, ‘Welcome’ unveils the new chapter – a gloriously rich, rock-punk and cinematic instrumental that unfolds into ‘Same Old Brand New Me,’ a 90s vibing pop-punk banger of a track that narrates how she has retained her core essence, no matter the journey she went through. ‘No matter where I go or where I’ve been / I know my soul beyond my skin / Wherever it takes me, I know it will break me / Cos I’ll always be the same old brand new me.’ It’s a raucous and rich instrumentation that lays Pope’s cards on the table for the sonic direction of Thrive.
Much of the record deals with the ending of a relationship, yet ‘Tomorrow Night’ is a more subdued, guitar-heavy and seductive track about impatience when it comes to love. ‘Can we just skip to tomorrow night, tonight?’ The mastery of the production here is in the play with balance and levels – nearing the end of the song, the production is stripped back to allow her vocal to breathe before returning to the onslaught of a heavier sound. Following track dives right into heartache, with the lead-out single on the record – ‘What The Stars See.’ This is one of the strongest vocal moments on the record. Karen Fairchild – who also co-produced the record – joins Pope to bring the track to life, along with a searing guitar solo and vocals from best friend Lindsay Ell. The result is an immensely rich track, in which Pope yearns to know how an ex-lover is handling a breakup. ‘Are you crying in your car tryin not fall apart / Are you wondering about me too / Or are you throwing em back happy that I’m in the past / Lovin up on someone new.’ Flipping the coin, ‘Say It First’ takes the pace down one notch, both in mood and production, in this plaintive track about wanting to acknowledge the end of a relationship. ‘It’s time that truth comes out / These thunder clouds been hangin around for / Too long and I ain’t afraid to push em push em away / I’m so tired of this pain / Standing out here in the rain / So you don’t have to waste your breath tonight on goodbye.’ The lyrics are straight country but accompanied by a vivid and fiery pop-production that is immensely compelling, before moving into another side of the story with ‘Break Too,’ dealing with the pain of break-ups, no matter which side you’re on. ‘Just cos you break a heart / Doesn’t mean your heart don’t break too.’ It’s a song singing out the toxins of heartache, crying into the void.
Throughout much of the second half of the record, Pope sings out the toxins of a past, toxic relationship handled in a mature, yet quietly scathing pop-punk rage fashion. So, ‘Thrive’ is a zinging track in which Pope celebrates the joy of being out of a toxic relationship. ‘I never would have seen this side / Never hit this stride, if I stayed tied down to you / Guess I should probably thank you / Maybe raise a drink to / Everything I gained when I cut you loose.’ It’s a positive, joyful celebration of the decision to leave. Elsewhere, Pope is less forgiving – ‘Some People’ is an incendiary track about the hallowed phrase ‘once a cheater always a cheater,’ a middle finger to a cheating ex. ‘Some people change / Some people ain’t you.’ ‘Just A Girl’ shines the spotlight on the other player in the story – the other girl. ‘There’s no replacing his whole damn world / Yeah I’m the girlfriend and you’re just a girl.’ Sonically, there are traces of ‘Girlfriend’ (Avril Lavigne) that could easily be the answering call from ‘the girl’ to Pope. It’s a spicy, pop-punk vindication of the other girl and it is immensely addictive. Of course, it is not just cheating exes who escape Pope’s chords and songwriting pen. On ‘Mind Your Own’ featuring Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) she brings up the idea that the only people who tear people down are those who are themselves unhappy. ‘If you were happy / You would mind your own business / Start working on your heart, some sickness /These words are meant for you / I’m not finished, if you don’t like what you hear / Quit bitching.’ It’s a blistering judgement on judgemental people, with a glistening and lush production.
The three final tracks on Thrive offer moments – either sonically or lyrically. ‘Remedy’ celebrates the right kind of supportive love – ‘Right when I feel like I’m putting my walls back up / You smile and I forget what the hell I was so scared of / And I’m my own worst enemy, you help me make peace with me.’ – whereas ‘Sis’ is a delicious, grooving ballad – an upbeat track about women supporting women, hinging around the refrain ‘I got you sis.’ Thrive is rounded out by the acoustic, stripped-back ‘No Now’ that showcases Pope at her most vulnerable, singing with just a guitar accompaniment. ‘If you don’t know by now / My answer would be no, now, no now / I wish you knew how / You brought me down.’
Nickolas Wheeler, Karen Fairchild and Cassadee Pope have captured magic in a bottle on Thrive, a gloriously rich and unique sonic landscape, combining the best of thoughtful country lyrics with a searing pop-punk production. More than anything, Pope seems to be in her element on Thrive and having a raucously good time doing so. For an artist, who has flirted around the edges of different genres, Pope seems to have finally carved her own, rightful place in the musical landscape, free of genre boundaries – the result is something special.
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