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The story of Benson Boone\u2019s second album, American Heart<\/em>, doesn\u2019t start with the album\u2019s June 20 release. It also didn\u2019t start with the release of the viral<\/a> lead single, \u201cMystical Magical,\u201d in April. Boone\u2019s latest album lived and died in a crowded room in February, as he backflipped<\/a> into the chorus of his screeching hit<\/a>, \u201cBeautiful Things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s safe to say that a lot of the people watching the Grammys that night, like me, had never heard of Boone before. Before his performance, in the cuts of him in the crowd, I remember thinking he looked a bit like YouTuber Kurtis Conner<\/a> \u2014 probably due to his mustache and curly mock-mullet, entirely unassuming in his simple tuxedo. What cemented this night as pivotal in the rollout of his latest album, however, was when he dramatically shed that black tux to reveal a glittery blue jumpsuit, sheer sleeves and a wide collar. He bounced around a bit before catapulting himself off a piano, ending the number, carefully adjusting his glittery crotch and stepping off stage.<\/p>\n For as much support as Boone has probably gained since that night, there must have been twice as many<\/a> fresh<\/a> detractors<\/a>. Although I\u2019m not sure Boone has really felt the difference. He\u2019s become a sort of love-to-hate<\/a> character for the internet in the months since. Boone jokes about the amount of hate he\u2019s gotten on his TikTok<\/a>; the music video for \u201cMr Electric Blue,\u201d<\/a> the album\u2019s second single, is full of self-deprecating references to the things the internet has been saying about him. Both the Booners<\/a> and the trolls, he engages with his audience in a way that only a celebrity born in the age of the internet can: real-time and as ironically as possible. Boone\u2019s aerial cotillion, however, might be the most interesting thing about American Heart<\/em>.<\/p>\n Since the Grammys and the first appearance of the sparkly jumpsuit, he has doubled down on the loud<\/a> outfits. The lead single, \u201cMystical Magical,\u201d despite its more meme-able lyrics<\/a>, has a solid melody, interpolated from Olivia Newton-John\u2019s \u201cPhysical<\/a>.\u201d It has its nonsensical moments (not quite sure what \u201cmoonbeam ice cream\u201d is) and meandering stanzas (\u201cbut I wouldn\u2019t mind it if you gave me just a little bit of something we could work it with but all you do is push me out\u201d \u2014 did we need 28 words for that?); but Boone\u2019s tracks have an energy that carries them through the jaded critiques of the internet, emerging with some decent pop on the other side. On the tenth or eleventh listen, he really starts to reach you.\u00a0<\/p>\n