From ‘Descendent’ fame, Dove Cameron released her second solo single, ‘Boyfriend’, that takes inspiration and fuels it up to levels unimagined.

Inspirations can be a dangerous thing to play with – depending on the situation, it can sometimes seem lazy, or played out. In Dove Cameron’s case, the inspirations are pretty obvious – this song could have almost been on ‘When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go’ by Billie Eilish. ‘Almost’ is an important distinction here. The vibe is incredibly similar; Dove has that same up-front, intimate, soft-spoken, low-register, heavy-vibrato delivery that Billie has made so popular since her insurgence. Even the instrumentation, feeling creepy and intriguing, but this is where the two differ the most. Dove Cameron takes that original formula, but propels it up in dynamics Billie Eilish had never explored with her album. The chorus especially feels so electric and exciting, introduced by a string-backed pre-chorus that sets the stage perfectly. The heavy punches, layered with electric and seemingly-authentic brass lines that give a very epic feel to the instrumentation. The production is excellent here, too, feeling huge in scope, while still keeping Dove Cameron right up to your ear. The lack of vocal harmonies is an interesting choice, most likely stylistically driven, but serves the feel of the song exquisitely. Rather than direct melodious harmonious lines, there are thin choirs supporting the chords in the choruses, and that feels enough for ‘Boyfriend’.

‘Boyfriend’ isn’t shy in its inspiration, with every passing movement introducing various elements of songs like ‘Xanny’, and ‘Bad Guy’, both from Billie Eilish, but the way that sound was executed in this song was done uniquely enough to have this song both stand on its own all the while feeling like an homage to that sound that took the world by storm when Billie released the album initially. Regardless, ‘Boyfriend’ is a wonderfully done track, and an awesome second effort by Dove Cameron.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.