if u see me like this: Francene Rouelle How to love yourself in the pursuit of your dreams

Written By James Russell | October 3, 2026

Credits to mHart

There are some albums you listen to for the music. Then there are albums you listen to because, somewhere between the first song and the last, you start recognizing yourself. Francene Rouelle’s if u see me like this feels like the latter. Released September 18 through mHart, the 11-track sophomore album follows what happens after love falls apart, but it never treats heartbreak like one simple emotion. It is angry, messy, nostalgic, confident, bitter, hopeful and sometimes completely unsure of what it is supposed to feel next.

That is what makes the album so personal. Rouelle is not trying to tell you that she has everything figured out. Instead, she lets you hear her work through it in real time. On “despise u,” there is still something underneath the anger that refuses to disappear. The song sits in that uncomfortable place where you can hate what someone did to you while still remembering the person you once loved. By the time “had me beat” arrives, that anger starts turning inward. Rouelle questions where the relationship went wrong and whether the love she thought was there was ever as real as she believed it was. It is the kind of questioning that comes after a breakup, when you start replaying old conversations and wondering if you missed something the entire time.

Then the album gets angry again. “evil eyes” feels like the moment when heartbreak stops being quiet and starts becoming confrontational. There is jealousy, resentment and frustration over being made into the villain, along with the feeling of watching someone take pieces of you and turn them into something else. But Rouelle does not stay there either. “september bby” feels like the beginning of a transformation, almost like she is deciding that if she is going to be seen differently, she might as well decide what that version of herself looks like. The imagery of shedding like a snake fits because the song feels like leaving an old version of yourself behind.

Credits to mHart

That confidence carries into “as opposed to what,” where moving on becomes less of something she needs permission to do and more of something she is simply going to do. There is still a question underneath it all, though. Am I wrong for moving on? Am I supposed to stay hurt forever just because somebody else hurt me? The answer is never spelled out, but the attitude of the song makes it clear that Rouelle is tired of apologizing for continuing with her life.

“Aqua dress” brings some of that confidence back down to earth. Looking good, going out and returning to a place connected to an old relationship does not magically mean the feelings are gone. There is still a desire to know that she mattered, even while knowing she does not actually want the relationship back. That contradiction is one of the strongest parts of the album because it feels real. You can know you made the right decision and still want to know that losing you meant something to the other person.

That same conflict becomes even more direct in “monster in the mirror.” Instead of pointing the finger completely at someone else, Rouelle turns it back toward herself and asks what this relationship brought out of her. The title becomes more than a dramatic image. It becomes a question about identity. Who are you when somebody pushes you far enough that you no longer recognize the way you are acting? The song admits that anger can change you, and that sometimes the hardest part is realizing that you were capable of becoming someone you never thought you would be.

But if u see me like this does not stay trapped in the past. “know me more” introduces something softer, giving the album room to breathe after all that anger. There is something comforting about being understood by someone new, especially when you have spent so much time feeling misunderstood by someone you once loved. It does not erase what came before, and the album never pretends that it does. “don’t look” makes that clear as Rouelle wrestles with nostalgia and the strange feeling of trying to understand who you are without someone who used to be such a huge part of your life.

By “juliet can!,” the softness disappears again and the walls come back up. There is anger, defensiveness and a refusal to let someone continue crossing boundaries. It feels like another reminder that healing is not always graceful. Sometimes healing looks like being angry. Sometimes it looks like finally saying enough.

And then there is “moonshine,” which might be the most fitting way to close the album. Rouelle is happier. She has moved forward. The colors have started coming back, but the memories have not completely disappeared. When the moon shines, she still sees that person. There is no dramatic declaration that she has forgotten everything. Instead, there is an acceptance that some people leave marks on you that do not completely disappear, even after you have learned how to live without them.

That is ultimately what makes if u see me like this less of a breakup album and more like an album about becoming a person again after losing part of yourself. Rouelle moves through all the versions of herself that can exist after heartbreak. She is angry. She is petty. She is confident. She is nostalgic. She is hurt. She is attracted to someone new. She misses someone old. She wants answers. She wants to be left alone. She wants to be understood. None of those feelings cancel each other out.

Credits to mHart

The album's visual world follows that same idea, using different colors to represent confidence, grief, tension and realization while pairing bright imagery with darker emotions. It makes sense because the music feels colorful in the same way. There are moments where everything feels loud and alive, followed by moments where Rouelle is left alone with thoughts she probably wishes she could turn off.

if u see me like this does not ask you to pick one version of Francene Rouelle. It lets all of them exist at once. The angry version, the soft version, the confident version, the heartbroken version, the version that still misses them and the version that finally walks away. Maybe growing up is realizing that none of those versions cancel the others out. Maybe they are all you.

And maybe being seen does not mean someone understands every part of you. Maybe it just means they are willing to stay long enough to see the whole picture.