This is despite the fact that in reality this is a very short album, barely twenty five minutes. Time is compressed inside her mind, in the recollections and storytelling. It does feel like experiences are lived in but there’s always a nagging brevity that leads to a lack of real connection. Not that there’s wasted space, simply that you’re not really afforded the luxury of getting your hooks into that headspace with any depth as the songs come and go so rapidly.
Not to be negative from the off because the music does glow. Strings swell, percussion shimmers effortlessly and choruses open wide into classic pop territory. But underneath, there’s a restless undercurrent that impatiently looks at the shame, comedowns, and uneasy silences that can follow a good time. Ideas are broached and move on, which is disappointing given that Li has always had a talent for interpreting heartbreak when she digs deeper. Here romantic longing isn’t traded for anything more existential; it's much tidier and less satisfying somehow.
“Happy Now” and “Lucky Again” both lean into the pop dance
floor with bright arrangements that feel just slightly out of reach. You
can hear the joy, but you don’t quite trust it. Midway through “Future
Fear” is woozy and jittery in a Boards of Canada kind of way, pulling
the listener through an uncomfortable haze. Then “So Happy I Could Die”
captures a fleeting, almost embarrassing intensity of feeling too much
at once.
By the closing stretch, the comedown settles in. “Sick Of
Love” and “Knife In The Heart” feel slightly heavier, like the night is
finally catching up with her and when “Euphoria” arrives it’s stripped
back and quiet despite alluding to being the last song at a party that
you don’t want to end.
Li isn’t chasing any grand statements. She’s clearly
documenting a cycle most people would recognize but it’s a bit too
slight to resonate that long. The Afterparty is messy, amusing
at times and intentionally touching on uncomfortable moods, that honesty
is appreciated, and the songs themselves feel fine, if underwhelming
when they’re describing such potentially big emotions.
