Hi everyone, Xthony BoxTano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Rebecca Black album, Age of the Exhibitionist.

Rebecca Black is back with her sophomore full-length album here, a record entirely funded by her follows her full-length debut, Let Her Burn from 2023, and her SALVATION EP that dropped in 2025, which, in my opinion, was one of the better EPs of that year. Probably Rebecca's best batch of tracks so far. This thing featured eccentric production choices, really aggressive fusions of different eras and flavors of pop.

But for background, as much of you already know, the internet's introduction to Rebecca really came by way of the song "Friday," which took the world by storm, and the exposure that song has led to has been both a blessing and a curse.

While yes, it did very much put her on the map, simultaneously, given the poor reception of the song and the fact that Rebecca was a mere child at the time when it came out, that has caused a lot of people, unfortunately, who might otherwise see merit in her new music to only view her through the lens of that track in that time period. Now, since then, Rebecca has rebranded herself many times over and is making much better music.

Also, since coming out in 2020, she has been more open about her life in her work and has been engineering her tracks to be even more dancey, sweaty, and vulnerable. In interviews, she's also promised this new record here is going to be heavier, faster, and harder than anything she's dropped so far. And she's even gone on to categorize this record as something that is made by gay people for gay people.

Now, with all of that being said, though, of course, I love the ambitious attitude. That was certainly showing in some of the teasers to this thing. And I love the focus, too. But while it's fine in concept to have a certain scene in mind when you are generating new work, I still went into this album hoping more to hear what exactly makes Rebecca stand out as a voice and a mind in the world of pop today.

Because I feel like up until now, she has proven she can put out a pop record that is serviceable and checks those baseline boxes with her debut. And with SALVATION that I praised earlier, where she had her ear a little bit more to the underground, she proved that she can indulge in some more kind of left-field, chaotic, hyper-pop sounds and still not sound out of her element at all.

So my question is, what does Age of the Exhibitionist do in terms of a statement or a direction? And I think the short answer is that it builds on SALVATION a bit while also leapfrogging the debut. But also feels less like a personal vision and more like a carefully curated series of vibes and sounds for her intended audience.

I hear it in the energetic bangers in this track list that kind of go through a whole best-of pop list of inspirations and eras within several minutes of time. Like on "Metamorphia," which in a lot of ways kind of comes across like a mega mix of several different inspiration points, namely Benny Benassi's Satisfaction.

Then the opening track, "Anaheim Star," kind of jumps from these booming, girly, Gwen Stefani group chants to PC music chipmunk vocal passages, all set against bumping beats and honking, wheezing synth leads. Not to mention, the track also tells the story of Rebecca transitioning from awkward high schooler to world-famous pop star.

But while these tracks are fine, I much prefer the more focused bops, such as "Hot Wet Delirious," which is like a laser with its consistently bumping beats, heavy bass, eerie dramatic chord progressions, and salacious lyricism, as this track basically deals in a sexual encounter where the two parties know that this shouldn't be happening, but that's part of the attraction.

There's also "Miss Delicious," which is a demented dance floor rager that I love for its booming percussion and stuttering synth bass and sort of absurd tongue-in-cheek symbolic lyrics that are so on-the-nose but still very playful in terms of the parallels between food and flavor and sex. The track feels like scarfing down a pint of Ben & Jerry's in five minutes flat with no utensils.

There are other deep cuts on the record that are looking to have a good time, too, like "Washesalon," which is this edgy piece of electro that in a lot of ways feels like it is trying to appeal to the Slayyyter crowd, especially with those shouted, distorted vocal leads.

And speaking of Rebecca keeping up with the trends and times of her intended audience here, tracks like "Exhibitionism" as well as "Pistol" have this dreamy, dive-into-the-ocean, Y2K-pop-era quality about them that feels very much inspired by the new Addison Rae record, which I've had my controversial opinions about that album. But I will say, in defense of Rebecca, I kind of feel like she does this sound a little bit better with more interesting lyricism. The melodies and the songs are stickier in the production, just a bit more textured. I mean, Rebecca's not blowing Addison out of the water vocally or anything like that, but I kind of prefer what she's doing here. As much as some pop fans may not like to hear me say that, I actually think it should be said, because there are a lot of pop fans and listeners that I think wouldn't give Rebecca's attempts at this sound a chance; despite the fact that it's very good, it's very solid, and their reasons would mostly just be contextual.

So while Rebecca does pass her attempts at recreating these sounds with flying colors, for the most part, I still can't help but feel like on this album she is playing catch-up more than she is pushing the envelope, because some of these moments where she is following in the footsteps of her contemporaries not only are they a little underwhelming, but you also get cuts here like "Michael.," which is maybe the most unimpressive of the bunch. Regardless of lyrical inspiration, the vocal performance on this one is just drab, and those kind of whooping, tangy synth leads that are just rising above everything else in the mix are so out of place.

But as much as it contributes to a kind of choppy tracklist, I will say the Closer "Speakerphone," which is one of the earliest singles from this thing, is a strong finish. One of the more unique tracks, for sure. It's so aggressive, it's so bombastic, but also packed with these joyous, bubbly sounds, too. It's equal parts harsh and happy. It's almost like if a Sleigh Bells song could be cunt.

But yeah, while Rebecca did not, by any means, craft my favorite pop record of the year here, I do think she does, artistically, continue to grow and get bolder and more adventurous in her sound. Some of the vocals and the songwriting could be boned up just a tad, for sure, but at this moment, all that's really left for her, in my eyes, is to hit upon a distinct style and sound that is just a little bit more specific to her, rather than just delivering a very well-assembled and engineered potpourri of her biggest influences. Which is why I'm feeling a light seven on this album.

Anthony Fantano. Rebecca Black. Forever.