by mariah estran
Ben Platt has given the world a cathartic chronicle of a shifting relationship. Through his sophomore album Reverie, we’re reminded that love has its moments. That those sweet and bitter memories are perfectly inevitable.
The thirteen-track LP is broken into a three-part interlude, “King Of The World.” In part one, we’re taken into the freedom-filled, naïve nature that youth can hold. Shimmery keys break through the silence as electro-pop beats saturate the track, “Childhood Bedroom.” Platt describes dancing on the dark blue carpet that filled his adolescent chamber. A pure-hearted account that would influence someone to move around their own four walls. While “Happy To Be Sad” and “Dance With You” carry that exciting disorder that new admiration can bring – by encapsulating it in thrilling 80s-like, new wave beats.
By the mid-point of the album, the loved loss takes hold. The ups and downs are addressed as the singer strips down in “Carefully.” On top of delicate acoustic guitar, Platt’s theatrical vocals build to a vulnerable ballad about wanting to be let go gently. Suddenly, gripping, synth-filled pulses ascend in “Chasing You." He confesses the habit of going after someone who can’t be caught. The thought process of walking away and the possibility of a return is apprehensible.
As the album begins to close, the listener is met with “Dark Times.” The four-minute, moving track describes a teenager finding love to only be heartbroken in the end. Platt is heard singing on how these moments are only temporary, and essentially, times of growth and memories. “You’ll only see the light shine in dark times,” he recites. “Imagine” shows the light that makes its way through. It glistens through tinges of bubbly bass and kicky drums that complement the passion described in finding someone who you simply can’t live without.
In the end, the listener reaches the final interlude. Platt's last remarks, which conclude with a simple lyric, “that’s just life.” Effortlessly put, but exceptionally accurate.