Review: Reneé Rapp — BITE ME
Music
Reneé Rapp
BITE ME
Interscope Records
Street: 08.01.2025
Reneé Rapp = Olivia Rodrigo + an eight hour shift at Raunch Records – the superego from her own psyche
A famed singer, songwriter, actress and lesbian, Reneé Rapp just dropped her second studio album BITE ME. The successor from her immensely successful debut, Snow Angel, BITE ME is the next chapter under the artist’s discography. After a two-season stint on HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls, Rapp had a mission to prove her star power extended past the silver screen.
In the lead single “Leave Me Alone,” she playfully takes a jab at the show’s lower ratings following her departure: “Took my sex life with me, now the show ain’t fucking.” Ironically enough, many tracks off BITE ME would have actually fit perfectly in the show’s soundtrack. Tone-wise, “Leave Me Alone” is the thesis of the project, a combination of unapologetic, bratty and some may even say bitchy (as Rapp does a dozen times on the track) behavior.
Off to an abrasive start, Rapp only doubles down across the entire album — and it’s fantastic. It’s fun, it’s light and it never lets up. Coming in at a lean 33 minutes across 12 songs (only three tracks are over three minutes long), Rapp digs her heels even more into exactly what her sound is — a blend between pop, alternative and R&B elements across her whole discography.
The weakest track on the album is “Sometimes,” which comes across as the least Reneé Rapp of the bunch, and sounds more like Taylor Swift or her other contemporaries. “I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore” is a great ballad, blending Solar Power-era Lorde with Mk.gee’s bitcrushed guitars. “Shy” definitely should’ve been a single with its fun, cheerleader-styled bridge in place of the worst single “Why Is She Still Here?” “At Least I’m Hot” has no reason to be produced as well as it is — reminiscent of Pharrell Williams, the track also features Rapp’s partner and fellow musician Towa Bird. With her high intensity, the ballads of the project became the weakest part, which is not to say they are bad; they just took the wind out of the sails. Over time, “You’d Like That Wouldn’t You” grew to be one of my favorite tracks off the album, despite initially not enjoying it.
My only wish is that this album had even more of a tonal distinction from Snow Angel. For such an aggressive marketing campaign, I wish the music leaned even more into how different it could’ve sounded from her previous releases. I’m holding out hope that a deluxe edition may be on its way, and the Snyder-cut version of BITE ME will provide the angrier, grungier tone I pray sits on a hard drive somewhere. BITE ME is by no means going to change your life, but it’s a great pop album that may just make your day a little more interesting. —Jake Fabbri
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