Ashley Tisdale may have been out of the music game for nine years, but don’t take that to mean she no longer knows how to play said game. The second single from the forthcoming Symptoms, “Love Me & Let Me Go” continues the singer’s musical maturation she began on last year’s “Voices in My Head” by combining self-examining lyrics with a progressive pop sound. In some ways an aggressive takedown of a toxic partner and a shedding of a former self, the song is set to a late-stage tropical EDM landscape that feels a bit dated, but Tisdale breathes fresh air into the genre with her sweet but biting lyrics.
The singer sets the stage with a sad scene of feeling in the dark in her relationship (“I’m feeling lights out, I’m feeling shut down”) before emancipating herself with the tell-off “Walk away, finally let me breathe/stop being so obsessed with me.” Allowing her serene vocals to cascade over the infectious, throbbing beat, “Love Me & Let Me Go” develops from humble beginnings to a tantalizing drop at the chorus. The duality of the subject shines bright in the switching of lyrical perspectives as the song advances; while the first verse tackles Tisdale’s issues with herself, the second targets an outside entity and thanks them for the hell they put her through. It’s an appreciated layer to what could have been just another pretty pop cut.
Rating: 4/5