Despite her more classical talents, it’s wild to consider that Ariana Grande’s celebrity appeal has seemed to focus so much on her image and characters more than her chops as a musician. All these albums and career triumphs later, her vocal range and delivery are still such a treat; it’s just a shame she doesn’t always have the songs to match it. “Hate That I Made You Love Me” is awash in lush vocal harmonies and layers, and stacks all these chords in great ways, while standing right on the line of magic and too safe from its melodic standpoint. There’s a spin on Grande’s more dark and sultry angles on “Petal” as she lets the music kick and roar in ways she usually keeps toned down, though perhaps at the price of a more cohesive overall song. The playful flow of “Stay” is just what she does best, however, as the more gymnastic performance finds her twisting and bouncing off the slinking of the ice-like synths to knock out something unusual and fun. This leaves “Never Get Over Me” as a kind of half step in the right direction here, as she essentially takes a more classic Grande breakup ballad, and warps it with a moody, sad neon wash, and delivers silky harmonies and divine highs over a track we already know to a degree.
Ami Cheon sends us through a dreamy haze on “Taste,” and reminds us why her features and singles have been so memorable over the years. The beats are focused but seductive, playing into the track’s sultry tone, trying to climb higher and lock down your only obsession for life. As the track goes on, the kind of drunk frenzy you get into trying to make this happen starts to bleed all over the production, as you feel yourself falling down the whirlpool of derangement with Cheon. The vocal layers in the track have a fun back-and-forth of these menacing crunchy harmonies and then slowly breaking off like your inner selves all fighting each other at once. Cheon’s slow motion outro break drives the intoxicated POV further, calling parts of old vaporwave while she sends you through the prism.
Moving from the secret weapon of the music world to the star of his own show, Steve Lacy has shown just how complete his sound can be. In a world that is constantly bringing the full emotional experience to you from just sheer musical colours alone, Lacy’s latest effort hits way more often than not. Between a Funkadelic-meets-Sleigh-Bells sound, there’s a crunchy neon glow to “Oh Yeah?” that feels maximalist in a way that hits you with a full emotional wallop from just its synths alone. This bright and colourful aesthetic gives “Is It Cool?” such a rich sense of feeling and lets Lacy drop so many dynamic hits that the production in turn makes the album flow even better. “The Feeling” takes a slower and waterier trip through the sound, with Lacy diving even deeper into his lush vocal performances for a memorable, glossy track. There’s a free-kicking flow to “Doom” that thrives in the sound of the record, but feels a little too ironic and carefree for its own good.
Lido Pimienta has always been such a unique and always surprising gem in the indie space that it’s fascinating to see her lean into more established genre trends on her latest record. As she explores more cumbia-driven sounds, she makes this format her own, maybe only losing a bit of her otherwise unpredictable nature in the process. After the smooth tones fade away for its driving, dark beat, “Tóxica” becomes a slinking beast of a track, constantly weaving in a new melody from another instrument or voice like animals coming out of the woodwork in their own natural way. The colourful glow to “Libélula” gives a rich set of textures to its slower, grinding rhythms, as Pimienta and Ana Macho let their voices dance around each other. With Nelly Furtado filling out “Hoy Por Ti,” there’s a fun to the aquatic synth runs and deep bass around the track. With both Pimienta and Furtado giving it all to their vocal performances here, you can feel a kind of passing of the torch on the duet here! Pimienta lets things hush a little more on “Marea” to allow for a more personal feel to the song’s warm and welcoming melody swirls.
Coming 15 years after her breakout with a sound that mixed pop-art retro grindhouse aesthetics with a very gravelly, deep voice spin on Amy Winehouse’s yowl (while really only recalling Winehouse faintly because of that voice), Gin Wigmore is returning after a long break with something more country-tinged. Clearly influenced by her time in America, this is a more subdued and reflective Wigmore, albeit one who can still bring a je-ne-sais-quoi in that sound that few others can even approach. Once you get over that it’s not that earlier sound, the album’s rich emotional world really starts to shine brightly, and that’s nothing to say of the grimy second half to this record. “Country Diamond” sets the course with a country-pop charmer so full of hooks and sleek production you’d think this was always Wigmore’s home, considering how instantly catchy it is. There’s a more textural and visually evocative quality to the lyrics and performance on “Tip of My Tongue” that avoids a cappella but somehow still feels so vocally focused that it highlights Wigmore’s absolutely transfixing voice into an amazing song. The soft shuffle of “Hollywood” makes for such a tender track that lets her rasp tell a different story, and one that seems more pained than fiery, showing the road that led Wigmore to where she is now. But just in case you needed a bit of kick to your drink, “Beautiful Mess” sets off the more rock-charged second half of the album. Even tracks like “Rodeo” show a stadium-driven
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