Did he win or lose America's heart?

The up-and-coming male pop star Benson Boone first became a global sensation in 2024 after his debut album, Fireworks & Rollerblades. His hit song "Beautiful Things" has more than two billion listens and spent 72 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Boone released a new album, American Heart, on June 20, 2025, which consists of 10 songs. On first listen, the album is very pop-sounding, with most of the songs being upbeat and fun. While there are some slower, more sentimental songs, like “Take Me Home” and “Momma Song”, the majority sound like something you would hear at a disco in the 90s. 

The most listened to song in Boone’s new album is “Mystical Magical”, which has more than 162 million listens, and is right behind “Beautiful Things” for his most popular song. This song blew up all over the internet after being released, but probably not for the reason that Boone wanted. “Mystical Magical” went viral almost overnight for its goofy lyrics, especially the lines “Moonbeam ice cream / taking off your blue jeans.” Many fans saw these lyrics as meaningless and stupid, and moonbeams and blue jeans quickly became a meme all over social media. However, Boone took this opportunity and ran with it. In response to all the attention he was receiving because of “Mystical Magical”, Boone decided to go along with it. He posted videos of himself dancing to remixes of the song, and even partnered with companies to give his song even more attention. The popular nationwide cookie chain Crumbl Cookies recently released a “Moonbeam Ice Cream” cookie in one of their weekly menus, and people showed up to the store singing and backflipping while ordering it. Boone became the punchline of the American music scene, and he’s laughing all the way to the bank. 

However, not every song on Boone’s new album got negative pushback. After listening, my favorite song in the album was “Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else,” and clearly, that was the public’s opinion as well, because it’s now Boone’s third most popular song. The lyrics are about him seeing an old girlfriend at a bar, and being able to walk away while still having love for her. This song signifies growth as a person and moving on. He starts with an instrumental section to establish that the song has a sad storyline, but the song becomes more upbeat and pop-like, so the listener understands how happy he was with the relationship before it went downhill. 

Benson Boone

Photo: "American Heart" is Benson Boone's second studio album, released on June 20, 2025.

"American Heart" is Benson Boone's second studio album, released on June 20, 2025. Photo courtesy of Apple Music.

While the majority of the tracks on American Heart are upbeat, fun, and danceable, there are some exceptions. Boone included a song dedicated to his mother, called “Momma Song”. It’s more of a sad song about him and his parents getting older, in which he pleads with his parents to share memories of when they were young with him. “Take Me Home” is the other sentimental song on the album. It has soft piano music and lyrics about seeing a past partner and discussing memories and beautiful moments. I appreciate that there are at least two songs that sound a little different than the rest, and how Boone sings about topics that he truly cares about. 

The only two songs that I didn’t love in American Heart were “Reminds Me Of You” and “Mr. Electric Blue”. Firstly, I thought the chorus in “Reminds Me Of You” was too repetitive, and Boone was singing too high, but the lyrics and beat that weren’t in the chorus were pretty fun and catchy. Secondly, I thought the lyrics in “Mr. Electric Blue” were too wacky and confusing, to the point where they just didn’t make any sense. The beat and music were fine, but it sounded a lot like other songs on the album, and it didn’t stick out to me.

“Young American Heart” is a hopeful and buoyant song that includes great instrumentals and a fun beat. It starts off with electric guitar and piano, until Boone starts singing about his young love stealing his “American heart,” alongside memories from when he and his friends were wild teenagers. Boone said this song was inspired by a “nearly fatal car accident” that he got into with his best friend when they were younger. 

Most of Boone’s music is pretty PG-13, and next to none of his songs are explicit. However, “Wanted Man” did not follow this trend. While remaining clean and upbeat, this song explores some more intimate topics that Boone usually doesn’t sing about. This could be because Boone was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is a Mormon church. He also went to a college in Idaho owned and run by that church, but after one semester, he stopped going there to focus on his music. Boone sometimes mentions religious figures in his lyrics, even though he no longer identifies as a member of the Mormon church.

Boone’s song “Man In Me” is an intense, tortured love song. It starts with upbeat drums and finishes with slow, creepy piano music after the final lyric, “Blood on these ivory keys.” Boone sings about losing his sanity due to a lover not caring for him and ruining him. 

Boone yearns for a girl he saw in Italy to want him and need him in his song “I Wanna Be The One You Call.” Similar to the other tracks on his new album, this song is upbeat and fun while he sings about wanting a girl and being in love.

All in all, Benson Boone’s new album was pretty catchy, even though it’s not something I would regularly put on. While all the songs do often sound a little too similar, Boone did a good job with lyrics and beats throughout the whole album. I think that the upbeat vibe of this album makes it more fun to listen to, even if you’re not a pop-lover.