Review: Oliver Tree – Ugly is Beautiful

Hey everybody! Hope you all are well. Here is today’s review:

Oliver Tree is a self-proclaimed “surrealist pop artist” who portrays himself as a meme most of the time with his signature neon jacket, red shades, and bowl-cut hair. He dips into many genres like indie pop, hip hop, dance, and alternative. Ugly is Beautiful is his long-awaited second studio album that was finally released last week. The delays are supposedly due to his label’s requirements for him; he needed to complete them to merely have the ability to release the album. I do not know much about Tree’s reputation and have not listened to any of the songs on the album before it released (as I know many did release on EP’s). So, this review will be purely based on his music alone and nothing else. The fiery album begins with a profound lo-fi pop song with a catchy hook and simple guitar instrumental. Here is my track-by-track analysis:

- 1993 – The prominent lo-fi dance beat guides the track about Tree proving the people who doubted him wrong. Little Ricky ZR3 has an interesting feature with his low-pitched vocals.

- Cash Machine – A lo-fi acoustic guitar instrumental that becomes very electronic as Tree critiques someone’s materialistic tendencies. The chorus is an earworm as his coarse vocals are weirdly intriguing.

- Let Me Down – This is absolutely a pop banger with extremely melodic hooks that have great chemistry with the beat.

- Miracle Man – Another great acoustic instrumental track where Tree reflects on not being able to get close to another individual.

- Bury Me Alive – This is my favorite song by Tree by a large margin. The combination of the skillful rap verses with the extremely euphorically descending chorus makes this my favorite song. It feels like he is challenging his death in this song, and it is incredible. This track is notably higher fidelity than the rest of the album.

- Alien Boy – The catchy beat sounds like any random “lo-fi type beat” one can find on YouTube. However, there are some cool switch-ups and effects scattered throughout the song. The lyrics are about Tree’s uniqueness, describing himself as falling down to Earth.

- Joke’s On You! – After two tracks, this song returns to the lo-fi feel of the first five songs. There is a great balance of rapping and singing by Tree here; he talks about how his life was a joke and discusses depressing, sometimes suicidal themes.

- Again & Again – There are some relatable lyrics on this song about negative perpetual effects in life; the things that are unfair and uncontrollable. Tree keeps the lo-fi vocals, guitar, and production consistent.

- Waste My Time – An immersive song that preaches being weird and unique. “Something’s in the air” melody has a great progression. The outro also includes some elegant strings over the electronic production.

- Jerk – This track sees Tree describing a bully figure in his life that continually puts him down. It turns out to be someone close in relation to him, and Tree realizes he must leave them.

- Hurt – Tree takes responsibility for maybe hurting the individual he is talking to on this song. Musically, the progression felt lackluster.

- Introspective – A playful lo-fi track that accentuates Tree’s vocals where he sings about overcomplications in a specific relationship. The melodies are a little awkward.

- I’m gone – This feels like Tree is saying good-bye to a specific person but also to life itself. The cut descends into a lovely mess of sadness and closure that perfectly finishes the album.

Overall, the album is fluid and has a vibe with its very intentional lo-fi mixing. At points, the mixing is a little confusing since the middle two tracks—the ones that are high-fidelity (6 & 7)— are the best in my opinion. The only flaw with this project is the forced fuzziness of the songs as they do not add any nuance to Ugly is Beautiful. Otherwise, Oliver Tree’s composition skills are very impressive from an artist from the realm of “meme artists.” I do not know the reason for his physical appearance other than to be unique; if that is his message, I love it. He shows himself as conventionally “ugly,” but his music is quite the opposite. Tree writes creative, catchy, and forward-thinking hooks and has the rap skills to hold his ground on any rap verse. Lastly, his lyricism is nothing to laugh at either as he is one of the most profound artists compared to his contemporaries. Hopefully, he decides to return to music sooner rather than later.

Favorite Tracks: Bury Me Alive & I’m Gone

Least Favorites: Jerk & Introspective

Score: 8.1