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Halle Weber is a freshman studying journalism with a focus in news and information at Ohio University.

On a High Note: Elle King steals the throne

All of the press I’ve seen on Elle King takes the angle of the unlikely pop star. She’s a clever songwriter and a talented vocalist, but she doesn’t have the modern society’s idea of an attractive look. By that, I mean she is not a size zero, two or four.

After the rise of Meghan Trainor and Adele, I think this perspective has been exhausted. I also find it inappropriate and repulsive when media feels the need to focus on women’s bodies, rather than their intellect. For this reason, I wanted to dig a little bit deeper. The best stories are the ones that aren’t obvious.

King showed up to play a show at Ohio University’s Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, in her home state of Ohio, on Tuesday evening. The crowd was a mix of mothers and their daughters, students and random 20-somethings. Country act, Paul Cauthen, opened the show with some ballads that complimented the bluesy name that King has made for herself.

I was expecting badass, rock n’ roll vibes form King all night, but her soft side came blaring through. Her family was in the crowd, and she made it clear how special they were to her at various points in the show. The most blatant example of this sentiment being when she called a couple to whom she had personal relations onstage to celebrate their love.

Halfway through the show, King joked that most of us just came to hear her smash-hit, “Ex's and Oh's,” and it struck me as a charming sort of self-awareness. That wasn’t why I had come at all, however; I wanted to see what she had to say.

King is one of those rare storytellers that is simply honest. Her take-it-or-leave it approach and bold confidence make her a stand-out in the modern industry, where stale dance tracks sell faster than anything else seems to.

She comes off as the kind of girl that doesn’t ever fall in love, the one who manipulates rather than being manipulated, but I don’t know if I believe that anyone can be self-reliant at all times. I think we all come across at least one person in our lives that makes us lose control for a little while. That’s okay. It’s what makes us human, but it often leads to pain, and only the greatest of entertainers can accurately depict that feeling onstage. King impressively embodies the harshest emotions.

I respect King’s honesty. She celebrates her mistakes and tells things how they are. She is not the cold-hearted character depicted in “Ex's and Oh's,” the party girl in “America’s Sweetheart” or the defeated struggler in “Song of Sorrow”. She is a combination of all of these women and, I think, throughout our lives most of us are too. When you take the emphasis off of the necessity for a consistent image and focus on creating a variety of art that expresses the highs and lows in life, I think that’s when what you are doing becomes valuable.

Halle Weber is a freshman studying journalism with a focus in news and information at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. How do you feel about Elle King? Let Halle know by emailing or tweeting her at hw422715@ohio.edu or @HalleWeber13, respectively.

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