Bebe Rexha Heart Wants What It Wants

For years, Albanian American pop star, Bebe Rexha existed as the music industry’s best kept secret. Having penned songs for the likes of Eminem, Selena Gomez and Nick Jonas, Rexha eventually came to prominent commercial fruition after her GRAMMY nominated hit song ‘Meant to Be’, a collaboration with country duo, Florida Georgia Line, topped the charts globally. Two albums subsequently followed, namely ‘Expectations’ and ‘Better Mistakes’, the latter of which failed to match the chart performance of her debut. This, for any Bebe Rexha fan, was a horrendous miscarriage of justice, seeing as ‘Better Mistakes’ was an indisputably cohesive body of work, comprising some of the very best pop songs across Rexha’s discography.

After taking what seemed like an unintentional hiatus from the industry, Bebe made a historic return after providing feature vocals to David Guetta’s TikTok viral, dance smash ‘I’m Good (Blue)’. The overwhelming success of the track paved way for the release of Rexha’s latest single, ‘Heart Wants What It Wants’.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the sonic direction Rexha has adopted for this track. With ‘I’m Good (Blue)’ being such a dance/EDM heavy song, I was definitely expecting Bebe to try and replicate the aforesaid track’s marketability by opting to release dance-influenced music. However, ‘Heart Wants What It Wants’ emits a very 1970s-esque, pop inspired essence – both audibly and aesthetically in the song’s video. Though there is not an obvious auditory resemblance between ‘I’m Good (Blue)’ and ‘Heart Wants What It Wants’, one could argue that both tracks espouse a similar lyrical approach. To be specific, both utilise an instantly memorable hook, ultimately forming the capstone of what can be sonically interpreted as two well-crafted songs.

Independent of the lyrical similarities between ‘Heart Wants What It Wants’ and ‘I’m Good (Blue}’, ironically, the former showcases a completely new side to Rexha. I was already firmly of the belief that Bebe is a versatile artist, having written and recorded songs in genres ranging from pop to RnB, dance to house. Yet, this latest release fits her well. The Fleetwood Mac and nostalgic 70s influence is blatant, but in the most innovative way possible. Rexha’s yearning to take musical risks enhances my excitement for this new era and quite frankly, puts me in a position to give it no less than 5 stars!