18-year-old Hailee Steinfeld has an impressive list of accomplishments already despite her young age. She’s an Oscar nominated actress, a model and a singer/songwriter. Earlier this year she appeared in the sequel to hit musical comedy Pitch Perfect where she debuted her singing voice. It turns out that was her first step into the music industry and she soon released debut single Love Myself. Now Hailee has released her first EP titled Haiz featuring 4 tracks including her smash hit Love Myself.
It’s easy to roll your eyes when you hear of yet another actress trying her hand at singing. In Hailee’s case there is no eye rolling necessary because she’s actually the real deal. As well as possessing a unique and distinctive voice, she’s also clearly got a knack for a catch pop melody. Use Love Yourself as a case in point, which in our opinion is one of the pop songs of the year. The cheeky song, an ode to self-pleasure if you catch our drift, works on two levels and showcases Hailee as a credible popstar in the making.
That song is accompanied by three brand new tracks on Haiz that show what kind of artist Hailee wants to be. Her music is firmly rooted in pop with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a cheeky wink. You’re Such A marries a stomping beat with a singalong refrain that is both catchy and actually pretty clever. Hailee tells an ex that she won’t be letting them back in her bed any time soon and we believe every word she’s singing.
Elsewhere on the EP Rock Bottom is a minimal pop track with plenty of plinky plonky melodies before opening up into an electronica chorus. EP closer Hell No’s and Headphones is the closest she gets to a ballad and the track is a dreamy near four minutes of pop perfection. She doesn’t hold back on the expletives when she feels they’re necessary either.
Haiz is a confident and polished EP debut for Hailee. She’s aiming for a slice of her mate Taylor Swift’s market and in our opinion she’s much better. The music represents Hailee’s personality and carves out a nice, rather cool niche in the pop world for her. Now hurry up Hailee and deliver your debut album so we have even more great pop tunes to listen to!
