Actress and musician Demi Lovato’s eighth album, “It’s Not That Deep,” is noted for her, in Billboard’s words, “return to pop music” after four years, as she attempts to transport listeners to the modern club scene. Her new release comes just in time to participate in both the spooky season and the canon termination of many relationships — Halloween.

Although Lovato’s last two albums, “REVAMPED” and “HOLY FVCK,” both fit into the hard rock genre, she isn’t only experienced in these styles. She has also released songs on other albums with soulful, R&B elements. “Tell Me You Love Me,” for example, has a strong blues undertone that amplifies the emotion in Lovato’s message.

In a twist, Lovato’s new pop album “It’s Not That Deep” illustrates the process of developing self-worth after a breakup, fusing the styles of 2000’s pop and contemporary techno — but there’s nothing new here.

With various lyrics like “I’m sorry to myself / For lying in the mirror, saying, ‘Ooh, this is love’” and “I liked me before I knew you,” Lovato emphasizes the value of self-appreciation outside of earning it from a partner. She encourages confidence by demonstrating that former insecurities and hardship maybe “aren’t that deep” in the long run because they aren’t a permanent, concrete reflection of oneself.

Virtually each of her song titles mirror well-known, preexisting ones: “Ghost” and “Say It,” by Justin Bieber and Tory Lanez, respectively, will likely remain listed above Lovato’s renditions on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming platforms.

The mere 11 tracks amount to only a lackluster 32 minutes of listening. Although the album lacked revolutionary themes, it was still mildly enjoyable at times.

Namely, the second track, “Here All Night,” is both chaotically fun and refreshing. It has the catchiest chorus on the album, but is missing a clear bridge. This absence didn’t ruin the song entirely and serves as a testament to the fact that simplicity in lyricism isn’t necessarily a damning trait, as many artists such as Taylor Swift have been criticized for as of late.

Surprisingly, the third song off the album, “Frequency,” didn’t result in the unplugging of headphones either. The words are a play on the popular, gimmicky phrase “Will somebody match my freak?” that is circulating through Generation Z social circles in response to Tinashe’s song “Nasty.” While Lovato’s slight differentiation — “I found somebody who can match my frequency” — was still slightly cringe, the beat that her voice accompanied was a highlight.

This is the case for every song on the album; the reason the album isn’t a complete disaster is because of the fist-pump worthy instrumentals. Unfortunately, good background music isn’t enough to revere an album as “good” per se, but it’s impossible to disregard its presence.

Still, some songs were more painful than others.

“Say It” could have been written by artificial intelligence with its on-the-nose lyrics and yet another lack of a bridge. It’s understandable that Lovato may favor a more hook-oriented song for length purposes, but with none of her songs having true bridges, the narratives weren’t anchored and the songs lacked depth.

It felt like Lovato got tired of writing or ran out of the shallow ideas she had, because the album peaked by track four out of 11 and followed a steady decline of enjoyability from there, with the exception of the eighth track, “In My Head.”

In this song, her vocal choices were nothing short of genius. The choruses felt like a tribute to her younger, Disney Channel self while incorporating more modern techniques like modulation, autotune effects that gently illuminate her voice to convey an ethereal nature.

While a few songs created agreeable vibes, the simple lyrics served as a detriment to Lovato. None of the songs had their own identity.

The worst track on the album was “Kiss.” It felt like the singer sacrificed her individuality and voice to mimic Charli xcx — a poor decision. She abuses vocal fry, likely due to the pressure for pop stars to present with a “cool girl” image. Lovato is yet another victim.

Even so, this song and others will likely be played at the majority of fraternity parties in the near future. Whoever is DJing will be able to create smooth transitions between all of Lovato’s creations because no song is wildly different from another; nothing stands out. The songs would be fun to dance to rhythmically and not laborious to hear but just aren’t spectacular.

The new album was not the iconic return to the pop industry after her four-year pop hiatus she may have been hoping for.

With that said, house music is becoming increasingly popular despite the club and bar scenes dying out. There’s no doubt Lovato’s songs will accumulate listeners, but she probably won’t gain genuine traction. No song is good enough for a listener to willingly struggle with their phone in one hand, while balancing their drink in the other, to Shazam her unknown song while out and about.

House party music is better in small doses. Lovato shouldn’t have tried to make every song an electronic-pop hit at the cost of true artistry. “It’s Not That Deep” isn’t necessarily a regrettable release, but it wasn’t incredible. There is something to be said about being content with feeling overwhelmingly neutral.

In the song “Let You Go,” Lovato says, “Maybe we’ll be better as a memory / Even if it means that you’ll forget me.” The amalgamation of forgettable songs on the album isn’t enough to warrant praise nor deny the simple fact: The album was mid and would be better left in the memories of listeners than in their playlists.