BIG! starts off with the title track, one of her most personal songs to date, about her place in the music industry and, literally, her physicality. She describes a scene from her childhood, feeling out of place amongst the others due to her size. Over the years, though, she’s learned to adapt and be proud: “If legends are loud / And built to stand out / Guess that’s who I’m meant to be.” While the lyrics could have veered towards a saccharine self-help song like “This Is Me” from the Greatest Showman soundtrack, it’s imbued with enough personal reflections to keep it new and inspiring. “Ten feet tall and I’m proud of it… / Baby, I was born to be big.” The production sets the tone for the rest of the album, as well: this album, she takes on a gritter sound.

Lead single “BLOW OUT MY CANDLE”, similarly, has enough personality and good writing to stop it from becoming a P!nk-like power-pop anthem. Over an 80’s training montage-type instrumental, she reminisces about people who either don’t understand her or don’t want to: “You can blow out my candle / But you’ll never put out my fire.” It’s an inspirational song without being overwhelming about it, a personal moment of growth and triumph.

“SHE CAN DANCE” is another moment of vulnerability: admitting her displease with a certain stagnancy she thinks her career has taken. “Got no trophies on the shelf / Record deal went straight to hell,” she says. One solace she’s found is dancing, though, and as she recalls dropping out of school, life in the city, it’s one constant she can come back to. The beat is easy, catchy, and distinctly danceable, something like Chelsea Jade’s “Best Behavior”, and fits well with her voice.

Other highlights include “ONE OF US”, a take on ABBA’s song of the same name, showcasing a disparity in a relationship (“One of us sleeps alone / One of us can’t go home”), and “I CAN BE YOUR MAN”, which switches the genders on a classic pop cliché.

Though Betty can craft a good pop song, something missing from BIG! is new takes on the format — previous songs “Mama Say”, “Human Touch”, “Just Thought You Should Know” all have something different and new to say, clever ideas that other pop songs aren’t smart enough to think of. Other than deeply personal songs like the title track or “SHE CAN DANCE”, everything has a slight tinge of familiarity. “WEEKEND”, lyrically, sounds like it’s plucked straight from 2013 (“Friday night we won’t be talkin’ much / Saturday we’ll still be turning up”), and though “GROWN UPS GROW APART” is sung beautifully, it’s written in a straightforward way.

BIG! isn’t the next iteration of pop, but it doesn’t have to be. There’s always a sense that Betty is having a great time with her music, and the newly found independence might be a factor: on a song like “Some Kinda Wonderful”, you can literally hear her smile through the track. BIG! has less punchy hits than previous albums, but comes with a sense of self-assurance and solidity that Betty needed. “All that is meant for me is coming,” she says on the first voicemail interlude, “I’ll get what I deserve.”

Order BIG! by Betty Who HERE