11 years later, Hilary Duff is set to release a new album. The American singer and actress has not broken her head with her advances. While ‘Mature’ was an easy pop rock about seeing an ex with a girl younger than you – very ‘The Substance’ -, ‘Roommates’ is straight up any Taylor Swift song at its most poppy. Of course, he has not been able to replicate his talent as a lyricist.
“‘Roommates’ is a song about when life is life,” says Duff. “It’s that longing for a wilder and freer time, before the days were consumed by shared vehicles, budgets, trips to the supermarket and old or new insecurities,” he concludes. It sounds really nice on paper, but the song is as deep as an Instagram bio.
Hilary sings about wanting to go back to the beginnings of a relationship that’s gotten a little boring (“I can’t mention it without causing trauma to your ego”). To those moments when the spark shone brightly and a simple handshake caused “butterflies.” However, Duff’s reflection is that he misses fucking more: “Behind the bar, sucking you / Coming home late and waking up your roommates,” he sings in the chorus.
Nothing wrong with this, there would be more to it. The problem is how the lyrics deal with the subject, as if they had been written by a teenager, and not someone adult: “Life is ‘video’ and the pressure is pressing on me,” for example. At the end of the chorus there is an attempt at confessional reflection, but it ends up causing a bit of cringe: “I’m touching myself while watching porn / Because you don’t look at me anymore.”
The music is undeniably catchy, yes, but it is impossible not to think of Taylor Swift from ‘1989’, both because of the production and the chosen melody. If you completely ignore the lyrics, it’s not bad at all. ‘Roommates’ will be part of ‘luck… or something’, Hilary Duff’s new album. This will be available next February 20.
