Clarity - Kim Petras: Review
is a German born pop singer who has spent much of her life in the limelight after publicly undergoing gender transition surgery at a young age and began releasing a string of singles starting in 2017. While she has a few verified hits under her belt many of the best of these singles were released in promotion of this album. With almost all the material that landed on Clarity having been released before hand the sound of the record was predictable but nonetheless refreshing.
Review By Lavender:
It feels like I have been following Kim Petras for far more than just the two years she has been active, on top of this for it being her debut album she has amassed a number of hits and an impressive amount of material to date. Given that I heard almost all of the tracks here before the album was released I had a pretty good sense of what it would end up sounding like and I have to say that a handful of extra tunes round the album out nicely and complete a very solid pop record.
Shinin is the closing track here and one of just two tracks not released beforehand. It's a dramatic pop tune with a soaring and inspiring hook that pulls heavily from Katy Perry's style and closes off the record on a bright moment. The other moment on the record that pulls from Katy Perry is the sex-bop Do Me. The song is much raunchier than we are used to from Katy but Kim's approach reminds heavily of some of Katy's harder hitting tunes. It isn't quite the bottoming anthem I was hoping for but as a sexual banger I'm into it.
Unfortunately I am much less favorable on the other track that wasn't released beforehand Meet The Parents. This track features Kim painfully trying to match the bravado of a trap rapper over some rattling high hats and hitting off with incredibly uncomfortable bragging and a weird relationship complex. The song fails to play to her strengths lyrically or sonically and its inclusion on here is a big question mark towards whoever was making some of the decisions behind the scenes. The only single released from the record that I truly couldn't stand mirrors a lot of these similar problems, Sweet Spot is a dreadful club bop with a huge miss on the hook. The song is far more sour than sweet and some of the lyrics are almost hilariously annoying making for a song that stands out for all the wrong reasons.
As far as major complaints go I'm pretty much out for the most part regarding the record. As the remaining eight tracks go I am pretty consistently pleased with the singles here both as individual songs and as a coherent listen. It opens with Clarity the title track and one of my favorite singles of everything released prior to the record. Kim sings a gorgeous vocal hook over some futuristic sugary auditory popisms as she weaves one catchy refrain after another. This is immediately followed by the "lead single" Icy, an absolutely frigid banger that's got an incredible performance on Kim's part with a fantastic hook and while the instrumental is a touch loose I am very satisfied with the final package.
Kim is at her best on this record when she is performing sexy and sleek pop music on tracks like Got My Number. The track is one of my favorite here and is the definite go-to sex bop of the tracklist and blends a great throwback energy in the instrumental. The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is the warbled vocals on the bridge but once they're past there is an instrumental breakdown that closes the track off well. Blow It All is a party bop with some expressionistic pop lyrics and a great contemporary pop hook. The instrumental weaves in some trap inspired elements and crisp clear vocals for one of the most memorable moments on the album.
Even when the song topics become more personal Kim is still effortlessly sleek in her execution and stylistic in her songwriting. Personal Hell is a track with some confusing lyrical mantras but enough clever lyricism that I'm behind it. The songs main highlight is is Kim's killer dramatic performance that sells the tracks emotion high for what surprises as a banger given its lyrical themes. All I Do Is Cry is a ballad type that seems a little fake at first but gets way better with a killer melody and a very catchy synth beat with rattling trap high-hats. When the instrumental drains out the song becomes quiet and compelling enough to handle the emotional density and ultimately make a track I liked a lot.
With some other songs like Broken and Another One here that have grown on me since they were first released Kim delivered a full length album that soared above my unfortunately low expectations. Given that I've heard plenty of pop music this year and Kim still shines as one of the most substantial full length artists in the genre. With Dr. Luke controversially on production the songs have a shimmering quality to them that makes the instrumentals consistent palettes, thankfully Kim didn't take the lazy approach to this as she belts out some incredible vocal performances across this record. With a sharp consistency and some refreshing ideas and themes there is a lot to like about Clarity and even more reason to look forward to what Kim may do next now that she's proven plenty capable of handling a full album. 7.5/10
