REVIEW: “teach you to love me” Finds Hailey Picardi Debating and Embracing Fate
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY SULLIVAN JORDAN ☆
Photo by Marissa Crowley
HAILEY PICARDI ONLY CONTINUES TO EXPAND HER VULNERABILITY AND HONE HER CRAFT. After her first two singles, “car crash” and “double edged sword,” bursting with emotional authenticity and a heartfelt grasp on cinematic storytelling, Hailey Picardi returns with “teach you to love me.” While more rustic than her previous releases, a minimal composition highlights Picardi’s brutal, yet necessary honesty and creates space for listeners and herself to face self-destructive behaviors.
Picardi sings with a delicate passion fueled by an aching heart that longs for full and unconditional love. Reflecting on a relationship that feels mundane, she questions if the connection was doomed from the start or if she inadvertently caused irreversible harm: “Does it feel like labor/has it become a second nature/like a chore that you’re beginning to resent/cause it’s almost like you do it all just for my approval/not because your love is fizzing over the edge.” Despite knowing what she wants from a romantic relationship, she hesitates to let a connection fade, because while it isn’t perfect, she still holds out hope that something will change.
A tender blend of guitar and quaint piano instrumentals cradle Picardi’s heartbreaking vocals as she confronts her own tendency to lower her expectations of what she deserves within a romantic relationship. “teach you to love me” starts with Picardi addressing her habit of trying to fit romantic partners into a perfect mold. Her perspective eventually shifts when she realizes her efforts are not living up to her own desires: “It feels so insincere being taken on the dates that I planned.” In a satisfying and hesitantly hopeful conclusion, Picardi eventually finds acceptance for the things she cannot change, despite how hard she tries: “I can’t force fate when it don’t stand on its own.”
