Back in 2010, then-thirteen-year-old Hailee Steinfeld was a budding actress and making a name for herself in the film industry. She was nominated for her superb role in True Grit, including Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Steinfeld then went on to star in a few other movies, including the 2013 adaption of Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Since then, Steinfeld became a face for Miu Miu shortly after her Academy Award nomination, and in addition became a singing sensation when she appeared as Emily, the shy freshman, in Pitch Perfect 2. Steinfeld was also cast in the Taylor Swift music video for her song,”Bad Blood” as…triplets.
After her talents were broadcast on her cover version of “Flashlight,” originally performed by singer Jessie J for Pitch Perfect 2, Republic Records then signed Steinfeld for her debut into the singing industry as herself. On August 7th, her debut single “Love Myself,” was released to the public. The song currently holds a lead of over 300,000 plays on Spotify, with the audience building steadily.
Steinfeld shows great potential through the debut track: an empowering, self-confident song with the lines, “Going to love myself / No I don’t need anybody else / Can’t help myself / No I don’t need anybody else / Anytime / Day or Night.” The chorus echoes with shouts of “I love me” in between verse breaks. It’s a solid debut for a young Steinfeld, now eighteen years old and ready to make a name for herself.
The song has a body-empowering message and continues to uplift from beginning to end. It’s clear that Steinfeld is trying to get her own message across with the lyrics, “I’m gonna touch the pain away / I know how to scream my own name.” A shout-out to the world at large that the best part of touch, love, and happiness is by your own mind, body, and soul. The trend for being body positive and “feeling myself” isn’t catapulted by Hailee, but an added song to the list isn’t anything to put the nose up at. It’s a fun song that lies in the same vein as the new style that artists like Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and One Direction are all pushing towards as they break free of their own invisible chains of adolescent and innocent teeny bop status.
It just so happens that Hailee Steinfeld gets to start her singing career like that, rather than making the leap for it.
Now diving headfirst into the music industry, it’s clear the song also has the underlying message of just what Hailee will do with criticism and negativity. There’s a fist-punching quality to the producing behind the track, and it hits the bad mouthing in the gut.
With a quality track like this one, Steinfeld is off to a great start, and the addictive beat of the song will surely gain her a radio hit at the least.
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Rating: 8.5/10
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