Growing Up, Laid Bare
Growing Pains presents singer-songwriter Harley Müller’s emotional journey from pre-adolescence to adulthood, pairing deeply personal reflections with highly accessible indie-pop. If there was ever an argument for music as therapy, this is it.
The songs were written between the ages of twelve and eighteen, and the emotions laid bare throughout are unmistakable. There’s more to it, though, with synth-laden production turning bedroom songwriting into radio-friendly indie-pop, and plenty of memorable tunes that demand repeat listens.
The aforementioned synth opens the album on Ghost Train (regrown) accompanied by a very hooky piano riff. It’s a nice mix of melancholy and hope as the melodies dance around each other. Harley Müller’s lyrics are bleak if taken at face value, but it’s also hard not to hear hope in the song’s uplifting production. Lines like “I don’t want to forget but remembering causes pain” show despair, but perhaps hinting at the idea that we must not forget what hurt us as part of the healing process.
The theme continues across Too Fast and NGT (regrown). The former is another indie-pop earworm, its darker lyrics exploring the complexity and intertwining of youth and maturity. The latter has a darker feel, as Müller pleads for “someone to find me” in a world falling apart.
When The Stars Collide leans furthest into pure pop, driven by a bouncy waltz piano and the album’s first real love-song sentiment. In Nothing is Changing (regrown) we get more introspection about feeling crazy, and perhaps accepting that everything else is crazy as well. It’s tempting to hear the cathartic pop production as reflecting Müller’s own healing process as much as it serves the listener. One can only hope.
If My First Song really is what the title suggests, it’s an impressive piece of songwriting for someone so young. More importantly, in hindsight it feels like the opening chapter of a story that unfolds across the rest of the record.
After a powerful yet restrained Safe and Sound, we then go to a song written by Müller at sixteen, the aptly titled Just 16. It’s another song with gorgeous, hopeful production that goes deep into the difficulties faced when we reach that age where we are expected to be adults.
It’s a welcome finish to the record with both Give Me An Answer and Time Travel Station seemingly the most mature songs on the album. We are on board with Müller by this point, and there is more hope in the lyrics. Having been through darker times and, it seems, a difficult adolescence, the light now appears to be breaking through. Along with it comes the ability to deal with memories, own them, and use them to become a stronger person in the present. “I can’t stop time travelling / But I’m never going home / I’m the only one still here”. It’s powerful stuff.
To sum up the album, we must say thanks to Capes and Crowns for being brave enough to share what are clearly extremely personal memories and feelings. The album is a reminder of what music can do at its best: provide comfort, perspective and connection during difficult periods of life, helping us find beauty and solace in the things that hurt most. The importance of this cannot be understated, and Growing Pains captures that journey with honesty, vulnerability and hope.
Leave a Reply