Greyson Chance - Twenty One - Single [Review]

Greyson Chance found fame primarily because of his cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" song, which he performed live on a talent show, the recording of which was discovered by Ellen DeGeneres. Since then, Chance has released an album (2011's Hold on 'Til the Night), two EPs (2012's Truth Be Told and 2016's Somewhere Over My Head), and various singles here and there, but it has been over seven years since he has released a full-length album (even though he does definitely have an album's worth of loose singles floating around out there without a home). A sophomore album, however, titled portraits, will finally be dropping in early 2019 (no specific date has been announced yet), with "Twenty One" reportedly being its lead single. (Update: I have since realized that "Twenty One" is actually yet another standalone single and will not be on portraits.) The song is appropriately titled, as Chance actually is (as of August 16, 2018) twenty-one years old, something that, according to both his Instagram stories and the lyrics of this song, he has clearly been taking advantage of. The lyrics speak to some of Greyson's more - shall we say - frolicsome behavior as of late, such as smoking pot (the song opens with the spoken words "here, you light the bowl"), smoking cigarettes ("but I live in the moment, burnt sleeves and cigarette ash"), drinking alcohol ("cruising all summer, cheap drinks..."), partying ("dancing all night"), and, potentially, having sex ("take another fall for a pretty boy... fucks me all up"). Chance, in the song's lyrics, acknowledges that his behavior can sometimes be construed as rash, as he says that "my friends, they tell me that I need to cut back...," but he justifies his behavior by saying that "we only got one year to be twenty one." The lyrics are not as deep and as meaningful as some of his other recent songs have been such as "Low" and "Good as Gold," but they are still definitely very personal, as they do, as previously stated, speak to Greyson's current place in life, and although I have not been twenty-one for nearly eight years and wasn't much of a partier even when I was and consequently can't much relate to the song lyrically, I still love the song because of its catchy and playful melody, especially during the song's chorus when Greyson sings that "he puts a spell on me, puts a spell on me." I also love the song's beat which (most likely intentionally given the lyrical content) sounds like a lighter being flicked on and off. It's a fun song, but I am definitely hoping for more deep and emotional songs as well, which I am sure that the album will offer. "Twenty One" is, after all, only one of many portraits. (I again reiterate that at the time when I initially wrote this review, I was, for some reason, under the impression that this song was the lead single from portraits, and I sincerely apologize for the misinformation. It is actually "shut up" that is the lead single.)