Hearts Sold Separately: An Ode to All Lover Girls

Mariah The Scientist has done it again for the lover girls, releasing her fourth studio album titled “Hearts Sold Separately” on August 22, 2025. Paying homage to the 1980s R&B sound, the 27-year-old artist explores themes of how love can be a complex and beautiful experience. For the overall framework of this album, Mariah The Scientist uses toy army men in her cover art to depict how being in love can feel like war. The 10-song album delves into the idea that love is a cause worth living for and dying for. Though your situation may be a battleground in your eyes, with you being a soldier, the toy army men are still seen as toys, making them disposable at anyone’s leisure. Let’s do a song breakdown from start to finish:

Track 1; Sacrifice: This song dives into how we as people make sacrifices for the things we love, Mariah in this case, talks about how her relationship with Young Thug caused her to compromise and make sacrifices for their love. One of my favorite lines from the song is “Dry my eyes and now I should confess, Never thought it would be more than lust,” which touches on the doubt that comes with love, and though you can be doubtful, it’s okay to trust yourself and your emotions. The beat of the song reminds me of a slowed version of  “I Want To Be Your Man”, adding a nostalgic feel to the song. Overal,l a beautiful depiction of feeling stuck and forcing yourself out of things for love. 10/10

Track 2; United Nations + 1000 Ways To Die:  The title alone already goes back to the army theme of the album. With this track being split up in 2 sections, United Nations touches on how divided the world is; lacking love. Essentially a cry for help to  our savior to instill more peace, love, and guidance in the relationships we choose to be a part of every day.  I love how the 2 parts flow into each other. The second half of the track, 1000 Ways To Die describes the afterthought of love, how bad you can miss it but also how bad it can hurt. Though Mariah describes her heartfelt bouts with love, she says that she would choose it again and again. For lover girls forgiveness is a push and pull between the mind and the heart.  9/10

Track 3; Eternal Flame: This song seems to describe the act of running away from love, but somehow being pulled back in, reminiscing the memories from when the love was pure. Like an eternal flame, Mariah details how love is such a strong feeling, no matter the efforts of trying to get away from it, it'll still be there. The mention of fire in this song is especially symbolic because  though the burn from the flame may hurt, it's so hard to stay away from it because of how it draws you in and stays consistent with pain. 8/10

Track 4; Is It a Crime: With a more modern R&B flow, this song poses the question if it is a crime to love in the way you do. On this song Mariah combines her artistic expertise with the mind of Kali Uchis to speak from a lens of vulnerability, and not letting your ego overtake your emotions. This song definitely speaks to how in this generation, people take vulnerability in relationships as weakness rather than a strength, and how it's for people to genuinely fall in love without feeling guilty of their emotions. 10/10

Track 5; Burning Blue: This song is one of my personal favorites . (Burning Blue was released as a single, though it’s included in the album). While it brings a more sensual feeling to the album, it’s one of the songs that lets you know it’s okay to feel deeply drawn to someone. The title “Burning Blue” brings up the reference of a flame, and blue heat is often the hottest heat to feel. Since it’s blue, it can be wrongly associated with a cool feeling, making someone drawn to it. With Mariah being drawn to the heat, she’s willing to take a risk for the feeling the flame brings her, and without the heat her love will freeze. 10/10

Track 6; All I Want + In Pursuit: This song fully embodies the feeling of yearning; in the first half, Mariah starts the song off with a memory of staying up late with a young lover. The reminiscent feel of  being sleep deprived, making memories with someone you want to spend your life with and not wanting to be anywhere but there. Even with the distance, even with the doubt, Mariah is hopeful and devoted to staying connected to this person. The second part of the song is short but impactful; In Pursuit poses the question of if the same effort will be reciprocated by her lover. Mariah is trying to make peace with the love she has received, but she’s unsure if it’s genuine love or if she’s just seeking comfort. 7/10

Track 7; More: Off the bat, this song ignites a switch in the vibe of the album, it's more about self-reflection, discovery and how searching for love can always lead back to yourself. Mariah starts the song out in a more melancholy tone, losing sleep  and trying to rationalize why her love keeps going unappreciated. In this song, she goes through bouts of understanding that she wants more, she’s met lovers and friends, but it seems that she’s searching for fulfilment that she can only give herself. 8/10

Track 8; Rainy Days: My absolute favorite song off the album, from the beat, her cadence and lyrics muah chefs kiss. The overall beat of the song reminds me of a slowed version of “Can You Stand The Rain”, and in this song Mariah is still hopeful of her love, but she’s coming to a point of realization that love can disappoint you in the same way that the rain does. In the beginning, though it’s raining, she chooses to stay hopeful and take the rain as a good sign of growth. Throughout the song she poses questions trying to figure out if her lover realizes the hurt they’ve caused. Mariah knows she doesn’t deserve this hurt, she knows she went forth with pure intentions and she's trying to make sense of why she was betrayed. Towards the end of the song, Mariah recognizes her own shortcomings of being too forgiving in a sense, trying to make it work after seeing their true colors solely out of love. 10/10

Track 9; Like You Never: This song describes the feeling of jumping back into your romantic self after being hurt. It starts off with someone finding an interest in Mariah, but she's hesitant to put her heart into it because of her past experiences with love. She also goes into explaining how she coped with her previous downfall of love and how possibly this next time could be a breath of fresh air for her romantically. Before she jumps into this she wants to be sure that her energy is going to be reciprocated and essentially has hope for this new connection. 8/10

Track 10; No More Entertainers: The final song on the album seems like a moment of clarity and closure. In the beginning Mariah is reminiscing on the good times she and her lover had, it quickly goes from being in love to the regretfulness of it all. Mariah is finally coming to terms with the fact that maybe this connection was doomed from the start; through her rose colored glasses she saw past what her lover showed her he was, an entertainer. She goes on to mention the first track "Sacrifice" in how much she really put into the relationship just to watch it crash and burn. It's painfully clear that Mariah doesn’t want to let go because of how much of herself she put in this relationship, she wants them to prove her wrong but in the end she realizes that she’s placing too much hope into something that’s not there. 9/10

Overall, this album was a 10/10 with no skips, Mariah was able to capture the essence of finding, being lost and falling out of love all in one project. It was a fantastic listening experience and I wonder what she’ll grace us with next!