BOO-AH! Kim Petras the New Queen of Halloween
Last year Kim Petras shocked and surprised fans when she dropped an 8 track Halloween inspired mini album. Up until this point Kim was known for a series of bubblegum pop songs sung from a valley girl perspective. The Turn off the Lights EP seemed like jarring left turn until people heard it and realized it was brilliant. Kim Petras took her bubblegum synth pop sound and translated it perfectly to Halloween and helped fill a void for Halloween flavored pop music. Since that time The Turn off the Lights EP has grown in stature. There's a reason it was the center piece of her Broken Tour back in the summer.
Kim Petras herself has also grown in stature since last October as well. In fact, let's recap the last 12 months shall we. After supporting Troye Sivan on the Bloom tour and dropping Turn off the Lights Vol 1, Kim released the single the Feeling of Fall with Cheat Codes, which became her biggest hit yet, dominating Radio Disney and racking up more streams than any of her songs up until that point. Then in early 2019 Kim started playing solo shows, which sold out in minutes. Around that time Kim also dropped 3 songs at once (Homework, 1,2,3 Dayz Up & If U Think About Me) that Kim declared marked the end of era 1. We didn't have to wait long for Era 2 though, because before we knew it Kim was dropping a new single every week for EIGHT STRAIGHT WEEKS, each a better bop than the last, while also announcing her first ever headlining world tour. Kim's first full length album Clarity dropped after those 8 weeks and it was instantly embraced as a new pop masterpiece. Meanwhile Kim performed sold out shows across the world. We then got collaboration singles featuring Kim from Charli XCX and Max after the tour wrapped up. Very soon afterward Kim made the announcement for a SECOND world tour, which also started selling out quickly.
Now remember Kim accomplished all this without actually scoring a top 40 radio hit mind you. Kim is the perfect example of how the streaming age is changing the rules of pop music overnight. It's also proof that no other pop star in 2019 is working as hard as Kim Petras because you'd think Kim would want to take a break after all this, but you'd be wrong because here comes Turn off the Lights Volume 2!
Back when I saw Kim live in June fans (Or bunheads as we affectionately refer to ourselves) were already buzzing about Turn off the Lights volume 2. Bunheads have been on the edge of their seats waiting to see what Kim (and her partners in crime Jesse Saint John & Aaron Joseph) had up their sleeves for this second go-around.
They didn't disappoint!
The reaction online from pop music fans and the Queer Pop community in general (Stans, bloggers and musicians alike) has been huge and overwhelmingly positive! Kim Petras has risen to the top of the Queer Pop pack this year and Turn off the Lights Volume 2 is her celebratory victory lap. In fact, none of the straight cis pop girls, like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande or Lana Del Ray, can touch Kim at the moment either as far as I am concerned. Turn off the Lights Vol. 2 cements Kim's status as THE pop star of 2019 without question.
As both a sequel and extension of volume 1, Volume 2 both compliments and enhances The Turn of the Lights experience. In fact, the 2 EPs have officially been combined into 1 album now and as a result Turn off the Light now stands as arguably the best pop album of 2019 period. It's only real competition coming from Kim herself with Clarity.
Like Volume 1, Volume 2 is a mix of spooky bops and chilling instrumentals that slap! I'm actually confident in saying that the instrumentals this time around are even stronger than they were before with <demons> being a huge highlight. <demons> begins with sound clips of people describing demonic haunting and possessions and then you hear a distorted voice say "True Evil" and yes <demons> is pure evil for how insidiously catchy it is. Meanwhile the opener Purgatory starts with creepy synths before morphing into an epic Halloween dirge that gives way to another supremely catchy instrumental. Purgatory sets the stage for what's to come and it's followed by the album's first proper song There Will Be Blood. There Will Be Blood is the kind of high octane pop banger we love Kim for and there is no doubt in my mind that it will be one of the highlights on Kim's upcoming Clarity World Tour. There Will Be Blood is easily my favorite songs off Volume 2 but it's not alone.
Wrong Turn, who's title references the 2003 slasher film (which I saw in theaters back in High School,) is another spooky bop that also references another early 00s slasher franchise in its lyrics with Final Destination, which Kim sings throughout the song. Wrong Turn also has an instrumental lead-in whose' title yet again references another classic slasher film My Bloody Valentine. It's clear that Kim not only loves Halloween, but horror films as well. Kim's passion for all things that go bump in the night, makes Turn Off the Lights feel like a real labor of love that hits all the right notes instead of being a simple exercise in camp that could have turned into a mess in the hands of a lesser pop star.
Massacre is another major highlight and one that stands on its own. Here Kim mixes the macabre with a hook from a classic Christmas song, which makes it all the creepier. Massacre also reminds me of Tim Burton and his composer of choice Danny Elfman. This is not surprising because one of Turn off the Light's main architects is Jesse Saint John, who has said on numerous occasions that Tim Burton's Batman Returns, a film which mixed gothic horror imagery with the holiday season, is one of his favorite films of all time. Elfman's score to Batman Returns is an eerie mix of Christmas and the Macabre and Massacre sounds like it could slide right onto that soundtrack next to Siouxsie and the Banshees' Face to Face (which was co-written by Elfman).
Then there is Death by Sex, which truth be told is my new favorite song title of all time! That title alone conjures up images of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, one of my favorite films of all time and one I'm sure Kim adores too. Still, Death by Sex is a bit more mid-tempo than what came before despite its shocking title, but it's still another winner. It becomes clear that Volume 2 starts out with the big bops and then kind of winds down as it unfolds. The final song Everybody Dies is the most subdued song on volumes 1 & 2 combined. I won't lie Everybody Dies is probably the song I will reach for the least on its own after October ends, but it works well as a cap to the entire Turn off the Light project.
Overall Turn off the Lights is another pop triumph from the current Queen of Pop music. It will be interesting to see if Kim keeps delivering more volumes of Turn off the Lights in the future or if this is all we will get. Either way Kim has already raised the bar and redefined Halloween flavored pop music forever. In fact, as of right now I'd say all other Halloween music is cancelled this year, because all we need is Turn off the Lights Volumes 1 & 2. Happy Halloween Bunheads and BOO-AH!
