Review: Teddy<3's "LillyAnna"
A few years in the making, Teddy<3’s LillyAnna arrives with hopefulness and resilience, two things the world needs more than anything in this day and age.
Teddy<3, who began their run in music as Teddy Geiger, has worked with artists ranging from Christina Aguilera to Galantis. Her songwriting sensibilities and talent for melodies and hooks prove useful in LillyAnna. Opening track “Under the Blue” sets the stage with wistful guitars and Geiger’s lofty soprano. As much as it provides an introduction to Teddy<3, LillyAnna also looks back upon Geiger’s journey towards her identity.
To Billboard, Geiger described how the persona of LillyAnna formed during a confusing period in her life, leaving much of her songs in a “clouded” state. On a literal level, this cloudiness manifests in lo-fi vocals and conflicting feelings, some of self-love (“Body and Soul”) and self-deprecation (“Loser”).
“I’m scared that I’m touched” she declares on mid-album highlight “Get Me High”, an exhilarating track about the rush and fear that comes with stimulation. At a time of unease for many, Geiger’s disclosure of her own fears resonates strongly for listeners who wonder what highs or lows each successive day will bring.
But rather than wallow in it, Geiger accepts the hand life deals for us all, culminating this acceptance in the finale, “Life Goes On”. A shoegaze-y tinged number, “Life Goes On” rolls along at ease with itself, eventually fading off as if to go explore other facets of existence. It gives a fitting end to a record where uncertainty is never quite eliminated, but rather something one lives with. It’s up to a person to make something worthwhile out of it, and Teddy does so here.
Grade: B-