If your first foray into capital-P Pop didn't do as well as your label expected—even though you won a Grammy—how do you bounce back, especially when you’re only in your mid-twenties? Prepped and primed to be a star with "indie" sensibilities, Foxes (aka Louisa Rose Allen) debuted in 2013 with Glorious, a synth-pop record that didn't quite manage to win over international hearts. Though the record and its singles charted decently in the UK, Foxes is perhaps more recognizable when you realize she’s the voice on Zedd’s 2012 pristine EDM super hit "Clarity." As a solo act, Allen was set to be a low-key star without any fuss; she had the vocal talent without any of the frills of a generic pop star. No dance routines, matching outfits, or expensive-looking music videos. Maybe Allen and her team hoped this sort of 'realness' could appeal to a generation that prefers One Direction’s lack of conformity to boy band standards like, say, the Backstreet Boys.
Two years later, Allen’s sophomore effort All I Need shifts the focal point from synths to her vocals. However, they're still not enough for this record to be memorable. All the ingredients for a pop hit are latent, but unrealized. Tracks like "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" have a repetitive hook, strong vocals, and a familiar story of lost love, but it just doesn't stand out the way a meticulously crafted earworm should. After listening to All I Need for the first time, nothing remains or sticks with you, which is maybe the most damning thing you can say about a pop record aimed at big international markets and radio takeovers.
The record has cohesion and was clearly written to generate hits, but it’s lacking almost entirely in oomph. Co-written with Dan Smith of Bastille (another band that churns out synth hits but similarly manages to underwhelm), "Better Love" manages to hark back to '80s sensibilities, something monotonous and exhausted within the modern British synth-pop sphere. There are inevitable shifts in tone on All I Need but they prove to be small risks that don't pay off. One instance is marked with insipid piano ballad "On My Way," which was co-written by Jesse Shatkin, one of the collaborators on One Direction’s rather weak single "Perfect." Another example is R&B and dancehall crossover "Cruel," which just sounds cheaply produced—think SoundCloud bro with a MacBook Air and a pirated copy of Logic Pro X.
It’s unclear as to what Allen’s (and her label’s) objectives are for her career—is she supposed to be a mainstream hit or are they just fine with her doing reasonably well? Working with a "mindie" artist like Smith and a One Direction collaborator like Shatkin makes this record feel lost. Additionally, the middle-of-the-road "mindie” shtick proved to be close to career suicide for Carly Rae Jepsen with E•MO•TION, but the difference here is that Jepsen had good songs (and much-deserved critical acclaim) by her side. Being successful without seeming successful is a difficult medium to achieve and maintain; it’s why Frankmusik is nowhere to be seen despite propelling Myspace protégé Ellie Goulding to global superstardom.
As much as you want to root for Foxes to find her feet, there’s nothing rule-breaking or remotely interesting about this record. Of all the shifting demands on pop stars and hits over the years, catchiness is the one element that remains unchanged, and it's completely missing here. Anonymity isn't a virtue: Even singers who aren't nearly as gifted as Allen (Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue) have managed to break into the music industry with a lot of success because they had catchy tunes behind them. What makes All I Need even weaker is that it doesn’t offer you something else in lieu of big, brain-sticking instant anthems. It's just kind of a "nothing" record. Considering Allen hails from a country that has bred synth-pop darlings like Ellie Goulding and the inimitably cool Charli XCX in recent years, All I Need had the potential to be so much more than mediocre and forgettable.
