Rapid Fire Reviews: R&B Recap with 6LACK, Chloe, Labrinth, & MAR1ASOL
Since I Have A Lover - 6LACK
Despite having a pretty diehard fanbase of R&B lovers, 6LACK's music has often received a general shrug from most critics, if they even acknowledge him at all. Maybe out of my deep love for the genre, I've been the exception. Even though nothing 6LACK does drastically stands out from the crowd, I found myself enjoying his last album 2018's East Atlanta Love Letter and the 2020 follow-up EP 6pc Hot. So even though there was plenty of reason to be excited for this project after hearing the singles and giving it a few listens I wasn't exactly in a hurry to cover it. The record runs nearly an hour long which isn't inherently a problem given how long 6LACK has been quiet. Unfortunately, though, the length of this record is a huge problem with 19 songs that are anything but consistent.
One of the more unique elements of the record is how much it feels like a fusion of the fundamentals of R&B with indie rock styles. We see this on the title track which I was a bit suspect of as a single but I've grown on a bit and slightly less obviously on Inwood Hill Park which precedes it arguably to better results. Elsewhere though there are definitely more familiar moments of sensual slow-building R&B. playin house is as charming as its title and the gentle delivery holds me on the edge of my seat throughout the song. Decatur, on the other hand, is a much brighter escapist fantasy with sunny vibes to match its romantic storytelling. I also really enjoy Talkback which makes the bold move of using the same sample of Sting's Shape Of My Heart that soundtracked Juice Wrld's Lucid Dreams but manages to carve out an identity entirely its own. But on the other side of things, the album is packed full of forgettable outings and shorter cuts that completely fail to justify their placement. The worst example is the run from the single Fatal Attraction to one of the record's worst songs Tit For Tat, a five-song sequence with only one even slightly memorable song in preach. While the closing run of songs isn't quite as forgettable it also goes by mostly without any strong highlights to speak of. I wanted to like this record and given how long it's been since 6LACK last released an album it's one I was really hoping he'd get right. Unfortunately, Since I Have A Lover is overloaded in exactly all the wrong ways which burdens down all of its best songs. 5/10
In Pieces - Chloe
I never really got Chloe x Halle, at least not like everyone else seemed to. While they're undeniably talented they first emerged as an act seeming more destined to play award shows than ever have a hit song but after the duos 2020 album Ungodly Hour seemed to emerge as a surprise critical darling it got my attention. Even then however I just wasn't that into the actual album itself. Now a few years later Halle is undertaking the admirable but unenviable job of being a black woman staring as the lead in a new Disney remake, while Chloe is sticking to music and releasing her debut solo album. Going into the project I actually had some anticipations for it after the great lead single Pray It Away cast it's spell on me with Beyonce-isms that finally felt more like inspiration than imitation. Unfortunately, if there's one way to encapsulate the major flaws of In Pieces it's that Chloe is sounding more "we have Beyonce at home" than ever before.
The record gets off to a solid start initially. Even though Body Do feels like a knee-jerk reaction to Beyonce's embrace of dance music on Renaissance it's actually a pretty good tune underneath. But starting with the deeply unpleasant throwback tune Worried the quality of the album sinks significantly. I don't really defend anybody working with Chris Brown but at the very least if you do it try and make a good song and the single How Does It Feel is just about the exact opposite. Also calling an R&B song How Does It Feel to begin with is just tone deaf D'Angelo erasure. Another low point on the album is Looze U which is some of the most flavorless R&B pastiche you're likely to find anywhere this year. While I admire the ways that Told Ya with Missy Elliott and Cheatback with Future flip up the formula they each have some problems both as songs and with Future in particular the fit of his addition to the song. Occasionally Chloe will deliver a decent vocal performance like on Make It Look Easy but even then it isn't usually in service of a very good or particularly well written song. In terms of establishing Chloe's appeal as a solo artist I think this record fails in just about every way possible. Not only has the quality of songwriting and in large part performances decreased from the already mixed bag on Chloe x Halle projects, but it also doesn't establish any kind of identity for Chloe sonically or thematically. What's left is a few decent tracks but in large part this album adds up to very little. 4/10
Ends & Begins - Labrinth
Labrinth is a virtuoso of musical talent who can sing, rap, and compose for a variety of different genres and even musical formats. After soundtracking the biggest TV event of last year in Euphoria Season 2 and collaborating with Billie Eilish on a single from this new record it's clear that Labrinth is having a bit of a breakout in terms of reach. And yet, despite all his talents and creative ambitions, much like fellow renaissance man Jon Batiste I've always found Labrinth's music to be overwrought, needlessly theatrical, and excessively tedious. Like a bad prog rock record I often found Labrinth's music to assume a level of grandeur that it never actually puts in the work to achieve. The closest thing to an exception is LSD his collaborative project with Sia and Diplo which spawned some singles I was quite fond of and a half decent overall pop record, but even then I wouldn't be the first person to make the argument that Labrinth was the weakest link of the three. So with writing and performances from Zendya and Billie Eilish in hand and just under 30 minutes of music I set off to see if Labrinth could buck the trends on Ends & Begins.
To some extent there are elements of the same indulgent tedium still in tact, the most obvious example being the entire second half of Covering and some of the sweeping dramatic intros that lead to exceedingly plain songs. I'll also say that the middle of the record between singles Kill For Your Love and Never Felt So Alone is pretty much a wasteland for any enjoyable moments. But despite those complaints this may actually be the most tolerable Labrinth project yet. The length certainly helps as a number of these songs forego their showyness and do a much better job at getting to the point. I also admire the records occasional attempts as reservation, it feels like there are songs on this record that would have been laughably blown out of proportion in the past but are much more modestly presented here. At the end of the day though, there are exactly as many good songs and good ideas on the record as there are poorly executed songs with flawed concepts at their core. It's an improvement from Labrinth for sure and he deserves credit for that, but I'm still not convinced it achieves anything that isn't does better by leagues of other artists. 5/10
Different EP - MAR1ASOL
Despite how much I say I love R&B I didn't really end up enjoying any of these albums very much. But before I published this set I remembered that R&B up and comer MAR1ASOL sent me her music to try out recently and it got my attention. Given the genre she represents isn't normally shy about songs that take their time I was surprised she managed to fit this 5-song project into barely over 10 minutes especially given her slow-paved vintage stylings. But the more I listened to the songs the more her style started to grab me right out of the gate, foregoing long establishing instrumental motifs for the most part and getting directly to the point. It also has more personality than the other three record I covered combined with her excessively slick style morphing into pretty much every song here. Another strength of the project is the excellent back-up singing and vocal layering which adds a LOT to the vintage flair of these songs. The one element of the record I think holds it back a little bit are the stiff trap drums which clash somewhat with the aesthetic and sound extremely similar across the first three tracks. Regardless, I like these songs a lot and they remind me in particular of the self-titled Lianne La Havas album which has grown on me significantly since I reviewed it a few years ago. Even in the crowded genre of R&B MAR1ASOL feels like a name worth keeping an eye on and this EP is a can't miss for diehards of the genre. 7.5/10
