it's a perfectly fine k-pop album that could've been better had the producers actually bothered pushing the songs past the 3-minute mark. a lot of these songs could've used a bridge and a final chorus but just end so prematurely instead. i think the worst offender is the title track, which is also ironically the song i like the most. i think because it is my favorite track on the album it makes me want more from it, meanwhile the song clocks in at just a little bit more than 2-minutes... there is the extended version but considering that it literally only adds like 15 seconds to the runtime it's kinda pointless LMAO the instrumental bridge is nice tho i will say that... also them including takedown on this is so funny cuz they're so clearly trying to ride on the KPDH wave (which i'm not knocking get that bag!!) but the HUNTR/X version is just so so so much better. the TWICE version's mixing and vocals just feel kinda... off. 6.5/10
Living in a Latin country means that Paulina Rubio plays on the radio here a lot, so it's interesting to hear her first official foray into the English-speaking market. It's a natural move: other Latin artists like Shakira and Ricky Martin were already seeing major success with their respective crossover projects. Paulina's contribution to the international Latin-pop craze of the turn of the millennium is a respectable one even if it didn't reach the same meteoric success as her crossover peers, and it has its fair share of original gems as well as reworked versions of her previous Spanish hits. I don't know if I prefer these to the originals, but she does a good job at adapting them for an Anglophone market. Rather than being a full-on English project, though, "Border Girl" also features 5 Spanish-language tracks at the end of the record, including my favorite from this album "Si tú te vas" (the Spanish version of the lead single "Don't Say Goodbye"). Overall, "Border Girl" is a very solid first English offering from Paulina, though I still find that she shines more in Spanish, something that you can hear for yourself within this same album. 7/10
