Empress Of - I'm Your Empress Of (Review)

The underdog of bright, experimental R&B has returned with her most shimmering and poppy album to date...

Disco-dipped 80s dance is the sound of the moment, and Empress Of seems to have predicted this trend as she's fully risen out of the minimal, watery beats of her very underrated but brilliant debut album Me, a record that surely deserves some of the attention Lorde stole for its deconstruction of the genre not only thematically but also musically. Where Lorde achieved what she did exclusively through subversion and songwriting, Empress Of was bold enough to utilise what there was in a post-The xx, post-Jai Paul and post-James Blake world in order to create something more accessible than any of those artists had done (at the time). Introspection and observation were her allies just as much as the chaotic synths and pounding, simplistic rhythms were, and it's her fearlessness to go where many of her more trend-oriented peers would never go that sets her apart from even the most acclaimed R&B acts of the last decade. Unfortunately, much of that magic was lost on her 2018 followup, the underwhelming Us serving as an example of a once-bold artist taking several steps too far in the direction of minimalism and conventionality. There was nothing wrong with this new sound, other than it lacking the excitement of her previous work it still showcased her knack for songwriting that balanced grace with confrontation, a composure that remains here on I'm Your Empress Of.

Lorely Rodriguez is effortlessly feminist without sacrificing the sensuality and vulnerability that she has always utilised to build her compelling narratives into relatable and phenomenally catchy songs. She's able to speak her mind in small but fulfilling chunks, the shorter song lengths surprisingly effective at forcing Lorely to cut down on the details in favour of the brilliantly catchy phrases that make up the bulk of this streamlined and summery-flavoured pop experience. Her vocals soar on these songs like never before, retaining their breathy quality but going above and beyond what she's done before in yet another example of one of the many ways that her music has assimilated into the pop environment in order to take her sound in a more grand direction. The album might close with the line "I'm taking two steps back every time", but where that may have been true of her last album, it's certainly not true here.

It is a fascinating lyric for the album to end on however, and it's a fairly negative conclusion that was hinted towards on the shimmering "Love Is A Drug", where the toxic dependence she had on a relationship is easy to miss by the deceptively upbeat and almost defiantly bold tone she takes when singing that track. Her attachment to these incompatible relationships and the repeated mistakes interpolated by samples of her mother's quite inspirational warnings are what help to make this a self aware album, one that not only acknowledges the negative impact her partners have on her but also her imprisoning reliance on them. All these messages are delivered through the sheen of house-infused electropop and some of the smoothest production Lorely has worked with. It's clear, it's emotional, and it's deserving of a whole lot more attention from the mainstream.

9/10

Best Tracks: Bit Of Rain; Void; Love Is A Drug; Should've; Give Me Another Chance; What's The Point; Maybe This Time; Awful

Worst Tracks: U Give It Up

Watch the video for "Give Me Another Chance"

***

"I'm Your Empress Of"

Empress Of

3rd April 2020

Terrible / XL

***