While urban-pop standout Alessia Cara may be experiencing “Growing Pains” personally, she doesn’t show it on her fine comeback single. 

Alessia Cara is back! As hard is may be to believe, her debut album, Know-It-All, arrived in the fall of 2015.  The Grammy-winner saw her popularity soar with numerous hits from the project including “Here” and “Scars to Your Beautiful.” Cara returns with an honest new single, “Growing Pains.”

“Growing Pains” features great production work, comprised of a driving synth, rhythmic, urban-infused drum programing, and lovely harmonized backing vocals. As for Cara, she serves up clear, nuanced lead vocal.  Carrying over from her Know-It-All days, she sounds incredibly authentic as she sings.  Furthermore, she never has to force things, sigh. Her rhythmic, melodic lines are clearly influenced by hip-hop without even approaching the pop-rap realm. In addition to her awesome, authentic vocals, the substance of this single stands out. She’s honest lyrically about her lot in life and sings about real issues.

Final Thoughts

So, what’s the verdict on new Alessia Cara? While “Growing Pains” doesn’t ‘hit as hard’ as her big-time singles from Know-It-All (at least initially), it’s good stuff overall, for all of the reasons cited above.  Vocals, production, authenticity…

Alessia Cara • Growing Pains – Single • Def Jam • Release: 6.15.18

Photo Credits: Def Jam