Album Review: Lost Americana, Machine Gun Kelly

Machine Gun Kelly, Lost Americana Album Cover.

Artist and Singer-Songwriter MGK, aka Machine Gun Kelly delivers his seventh studio album, showcasing his wide range of different styles, whilst also peeling back the curtain even further on his personal life”

Between his last album releasing in 2022, and this one releasing 3 years later, Colson Baker, better known as Machine Gun Kelly has gone through a large amount of changes in his life. From sobering up from his past drug usage, to even blacking out a majority of the tattoos located on his body.

The latter of which he explained on a podcast appearance took 70 hours to do and he claimed the reason for it being that he felt he was losing the idea of who he was as a person from trying to rewrite himself so many times.

He says "Imagine if you took a journal and you just kept writing over the same page every day and then look at that page and try to make sense out of it". Even the sounds of his music has changed, which isn't new to his career(He’s gone from primarily doing Hip Hop to doing Pop-Punk in his 2 most recent Album releases). The first single “Cliche”, which was released May 23rd, 2025 sounds like neither of those previously mentioned genres, instead sounding ironically(and intentionally) like a cliche pop song. He would release 2 more singles ahead of the album’s release(Vampire Diaries and Miss Sunshine). The album reveal would get a trailer, narrated by Bob Dylan and an August 8th release date. The title being, Lost Americana. Claiming to be a “return to his roots and a sense of nostalgic, unburdened freedom and the romantic idea of being "on the road" away from responsibility and conflict”.

Machine Gun Kelly sits on a motorcycle and gazes back, wearing a striking red and white jacket emblazoned with "Lost Americana," as the sun casts a dramatic glow over the open road ahead.

As a long time fan of MGK, The great thing about his music is that he had such tremendous range. And what makes this album so great in my opinion is that, this album truly showcases all of what he can do. There is something in this album for every fan of MGK’s previous eras. Songs like “dont wait run fast”(which has been named as the anthem for the 2025 NCAA College football season) and “overlaw overture” have their heavy rock influence. Then you have songs like “tell me what’s up” and “indigo” which are much more rap centered. And for those who love the new cliche poppier sound, you have songs like “cliche” and “miss sunshine”. You truly get the full picture of who MGK is and what he can do in this album.

Probably the biggest public drama going on surrounding him before the album was his breakup with actress Megan Fox. And what you get in the last 3 songs (cant stay here, treading water, and orpheus), is a very personal trilogy of songs all similarly in reference to that relationship. The song “cant stay here” is a focus on the idea of wrestling with heartbreak as well as bad coping. Kicking someone out of your life while also detailing how badly he still wants their presence.

“Trapped between detachment and desperation, closing time and regret, toughness and vulnerability”. “treading water”

MGK states he wrote while in rehab, seems to address the harm in the choices he made and how he takes accountability for how the relationship ended, while also stating how he’s gonna change for his daughter’s sake. He says in the second verse of that song, “I'm lookin' at the kids' faces, Sittin' in the driveway while I pack up suitcases, I just ruined their holiday, and lies don't die, they grow. And everything you try to hide eventually shows. The beast killed the beauty; the last petal fell from the rose; And I loved you truly, that's why it's hard to let it go. I broke this home, but I'll change for our daughter, so she's not alone”.

The closing track, “orpheus” shares writing credits with Megan Fox. Making her a part of this story as well. Not because Megan was in the studio at the time of the track being made, but because it draws from love notes written by her to MGK. Even calling him “Orpheus” in the past. The song is a myth-inspired ballad comparing his relationship with Megan to Orpheus and Eurydice, which is a love so deep he’d follow it into the underworld. He sings “Eurydice died from a viper, The girl Orpheus knew he'd die for, Go to the Underworld and fight for. 'Cause life's just death if I don't have you, So I'll find Hell to be trapped into, to get back to you”.

This album is not perfect, MGK still suffers from some corniness in the song-writing and subject matter of the less personal songs but, when he is open and shows who he is, he can create some absolutely beautiful music that can make you truly feel the emotion he is trying to convey. This album does that very well.

I want to end this album review with something positive to take because of the subject matter throughout the album. Even in your lowest moments, there is hope. Redemption can be hard and it’s way easier to give up but it’s all worth it. I end by quoting lyrics from one of my favorite songs from this album, treading water. “It's a long road to redemption, and a shorter one to damnation. I know which one is my destination, But the journey doesn't come without the frustrations, Like it doesn't come without the temptations, And failure can lead to an elevation.

"Cause sometimes you gotta see what's waiting on the other side, And know your soul's worth savin".