On Jan. 16, Madison Beer released her third studio album, Locket. With over 400,000 pre-saves on Spotify, this album ranks among the top 10 pre-saved albums in the platform’s history and became her first top-ten release in the U.S., debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. These milestones mark a turning point for her since the 2018 debut EP, As She Pleases.

Across the 11 tracks, Locket takes on a genre-bending experimental sound that mixes pop, R&B, electropop and dark pop. It’s an emotional rollercoaster, hopping from soft, intimate songs to brighter, polished pop to slower, more introspective songs. Conceptually, it encapsulates the journey of a complicated relationship, from its passionate beginnings to its inevitable chaotic end. It invites you into her sacred private moments, with each song sealed in a locket.

The poignant ballad “you’re still everything” stands out as the emotional heart of the album. Penned in deep pain, Beer even called this the saddest track on Locket. In fact, she cried so intensely while recording it that heavy autotune was used to cover her sobs. The vocals are soft and intimate, accompanying the warm piano progression that restrains itself from a big crescendo. The production is mixed with a sparse synth-pop sound and robotic vocal distortions that create a dreamy soundscape.

Lyrically, the song touches on unrequited love, the emotional residue of a finished relationship. The lingering attachment to someone who just doesn’t care for you anymore. The feeling of only being alive when you are with them. The questioning, “How am I nothing to you, while you’re still everything to me?” The empty reassurances of those who say you’ll get through it, but what if you’ll never be the same?

“They say, ‘You’ll get used to it'” /

But it never goes away /

If I, I get through this (Mm) /

I’ll never be the same.”