Singer, actress, model and businesswoman Paris Hilton released her first album in 18 years, “Infinite Icon,” on Friday. The 43-year-old celebrity revived her musical endeavors with an album that is a celebration of divine femininity. Though “Infinite Icon” sometimes sounds corny and outdated, Hilton delivers a handful of satisfying dance tunes.
In this very personal album, Hilton, now a mother of two, aligns with her contemporaries in celebrating womanly triumph. It’s a welcome release after American pop singer Katy Perry’s ingenuine attempt to jump on the girl power bandwagon with her song, “Woman’s World.”
The opening track of “Infinite Icon,” titled “Welcome Back,” begins with a deep synthesizer that revs up before introducing Hilton’s vocals. “Raise a bottle / I’m saying cheers,” she sings just before a palette of bright, high-pitched keys accompanies the chorus. She sounds relieved to have arrived at her current place in life.
The album’s highlight is “I’m Free,” a nu-disco number featuring Japanese electro-pop singer Rina Sawayama. Though this song sounds like a borrowed tune from English pop star Dua Lipa’s 2020 album “Future Nostalgia,” Hilton sounds loose and liberated, wanting nothing more than a dance party in her kitchen and a dirty martini.
“I am the blueprint / The real OG / This is my legacy,” she boasts. She claims that she set the standard for today’s pop culture feminine icons, given that her multifaceted career began in the early 2000s.
The album carves out plenty of time for entertaining dance tracks. “BBA” is a sleazy club song, appropriately featuring American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, whose flow rides the house-beat drums with precision and toughness.
“Legacy” is the most playful on the tracklist, but it’s also highly romantic. With starry eyes, Hilton sweetly sings, “We know in reality / That loving you is my legacy.” The kick drum’s rhythm thumps like a heartbeat, and the synthesizers are dazzling and electrifying.
However, “Infinite Icon” includes songs that miserably miss the mark. “Chasin’” is the album’s most obnoxious and unfashionable track, and the contributions from American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor do not not make it any more desirable. “Chasin’” tries to sound retro, but its retroness only goes back to 2014.
“Fame Won’t Love You” features the album’s executive producer, Australian singer-songwriter Sia. The duo’s vocals awkwardly stumble over each other, as the oversaturated and bombastic instrumental typical of Sia’s previous work create an irritating cacophony.
In “ADHD,” Hilton’s lyricism is aggravating and on-the-nose, as she sings, “I was so down, thought I’d never be free / My superpower was right inside, see? / It was ADHD.” Hilton’s lyricism is far from a strength and “ADHD” fails to convey compelling emotions that parallel the melodramatic instrumental.
While “Infinite Icon” is not a particularly novel project and its lowlights dig deep, Hilton’s ability to weave herself in among younger chart-topping female pop stars is admirable. Her womanhood exists in a vacuum. It is demonstrative and speaks for itself, unlike Katy Perry’s recent works. This album is a celebration of self-love and romance and illuminates Hilton as a product of female bliss.
