U.S. singer and actress Reneé Rapp arrives for the Variety Power of Women event at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, on Sept. 28, 2022. Credit: Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images via TNS
August tends to be the month that pop artists have a chokehold on — and this year is no different. Queer pop star Reneé Rapp started the month off strong, releasing “BITE ME,” her second full-length album, Friday.
Rapp rose to fame at the age of 19 after performing as Regina George in the Broadway musical adaptation of the classic film “Mean Girls.” In 2023, she released her first EP, “Everything to Everyone,” followed by her debut studio album “Snow Angel.”
“BITE ME” is both a nod to her previous work and a separation from her original style. The slower songs have a very similar feel to the majority of “Snow Angel,” whereas the upbeat tracks branch into new territory.
The first track and lead single from the album, “Leave Me Alone,” is backed by a bold beat that stays consistent throughout the song, followed by Rapp’s repetition of “leave me alone, babe, I wanna have fun” after every lyric. The single debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 Bubbling Under chart in the United States and a clean version promptly found its way onto radio stations and retail playlists.
“Leave Me Alone” is a great lead-in to the rest of the album and makes it clear that “BITE ME” tells a very different story compared to her previous work.
The next two songs, “Mad” and “Why Is She Still Here?,” have a similar feel to “Leave Me Alone.” All three tracks are paired with upbeat music, catchy lyrics and possess a windows down, summertime drive with your friends feeling. Bonus points if you recently went through a breakup and are in the “my ex is horrible, no one can touch my comeback right now” stage, because that would add a cherry on top.
“Sometimes,” the fourth track, takes the first slower turn of the album. Heavy on piano and background strings, the song is a big pivot from the opening trio but was absolutely needed to break up the pattern. The song is also the first chance on the album for Rapp to showcase her vocals in a more intimate way versus the endurance show she put on in the first three tracks.
“It’s killing me having you sometimes / If you still want her, then leave me here by myself / I know what I said, but it’s not fine / It’s killing me having you sometimes,” Rapp sings in the chorus. In an era of situationships, all kinds of listeners can resonate with these lyrics.
“Kiss It, Kiss It” and “Good Girl” circle back to the same feeling as the first three tracks, just a little slower and less in your face. It’s clear that Rapp wrote a majority of the songs in between a breakup and finding her next partner, since the entire album encapsulates the different feelings and experiences you go through while being recently single.
“I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore” is in the same playing field as “Sometimes,” the second slower song on the album. The use of bass guitar opens the track up to Rapp’s gentle vocals, especially in comparison to some of the other songs on the album.
“Shy” comes back full force, exuding the same confidence in “Leave Me Alone,” putting the main focus on the bridge of the song.
“Come on and cross my heart and hope to die … / I wanna mark it up like ‘X’ and ‘O’ / ‘Cause, baby, I’ll do things your exes won’t / I’m thinkin’ I’ll try yours and you’ll try mine.”
There’s a complete turnaround in “I Think I Like You Better When You’re Gone,” a song about feeling better when your partner isn’t around. While it’s a pivot from the story of “Leave Me Alone” and certainly a shift from “Shy,” it still fits with the rest of the album.
“I know that I’m supposed to miss you and wish that you were here / But the more I drink, the more I think you might just disappear / I got a funny feeling, funny feeling something’s wrong / I think I like you bеtter when you’re gone.”
“That’s So Funny” continues the slow vibe and would be considered the “emotional ballad” of the album. Paired with a stripped-down piano backtrack, this is the song that highlights Rapp’s songwriting the most.
“Yeah, that’s so funny, baby, that you would tell it like that / You paint yourself rather lovely, baby, don’t you? / Yeah, that’s so funny, baby, that you could play it all back / And skip every part where I loved you.”
The final song, “You’d Like That Wouldn’t You,” carries the same idea as a lot of notable teenage pop tracks — passive-aggressive lyrics made to seem lighthearted by pairing them with upbeat musical aspects. Rapp’s take on the idea includes speaking to an ex-romantic partner about how they’d come back to her if she did certain things, while being backed by guitars, drums and bass undertones during the chorus.
“I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you? / If I could never love somebody new / ‘Cause no one tastes quite like you do / You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“BITE ME” takes the listener through the ups and downs of a relationship and the time spent being single. The switches from upbeat to ballad songs reflect the ability of things to change before you can even process what happens, all while creating a new era of music for Rapp.
Rating: 4.5/5
