Christian Lee Hutson Mines Emotional Wreckage on Paradise Pop. 10

No matter how deceptively delicate and contemplative the music of Christian Lee Hutson may be, there seems to be a competitive spirit hovering overhead. Relationships, regardless of how entangled within them he is, provide an insight into the dynamic held within each song. Someone has to win, someone has to lose. You can see this even in a propulsive song like the stunning “State Bird,” where the argumentative relationship he’s unpacking makes it clear the side we’re hearing is from the loser. It’s a viewpoint that only makes sense considering his last two albums were entitled Beginners and Quitters, every character is playing a game of sorts. On “Flamingos,” a standout from his new album Paradise Pop. 10, Hutson makes this tumultuous subtext into enthralling text. He sings: “Losers remember the people who won / Winners are never afraid to lose / You only think about falling in love / I only think about you,” as the album’s co-producer Phoebe Bridgers sings a cradling harmony.

It stands to reason that Hutson writes from the losing side more often than not. Paradise Pop. 10 is rife with brief but affecting narrative sketches of relationship aftermaths and offers trenchant insights into the beautiful wreckage. On “Tiger,” the album’s opener, we get a look into the thoughts of a man so riddled with insecurities that he’s reticent to try and work on the issues in his relationship. He watches his girlfriend act in a play, projecting himself onto her scene partner as her character ends an on-stage relationship. He daydreams about how things could have gone but ultimately applauds himself for saving himself from further hurt. The music, steady piano plinks coming undone, and a canned applause fill the space as Hutson sings a withering, condescending note of encouragement: “Go get ‘em, tiger.” “Tiger” has its inverse in the folk rock-inflected “Candyland.” Here, our narrator reacts skeptically when an ex tries to rekindle things. He likens their relationship to a carnival game on a Jersey boardwalk, trying over and over to win.

Paradise Pop. 10 often retreads narrative ground already covered by Hutson on prior records. This would be a bigger issue if these new songs weren’t even more enticing than the last. One could look at the vapory “After Hours” as another perspective of the car crash in “Northsiders.” It’s as though the free spirit Hutson sings about is addressing his narrator from the afterlife. They look down and sing “It’s crazy, I know / I’ve got nowhere to go / But up here, I wear my seatbelt.” Home to lines like “You looked like After Hours era Catherine O’Hara” and “Embarrassed in Paris to fuck on the terrace,” it’s one of the most memorable songs among the set and presents an otherworldly dreamstate I could listen to Hutson describing forever.