Speaking of reminiscing, the lullaby-like “Story of Us” details (and I mean details) what sounds to have been a pivotal relationship and fairytale moment in Tinashe’s life. It recalls moments from the highs of love and is wrapped around a pounding, dynamic beat. I love the glittering melody that continues in the background, and that detail immediately caught my attention and made this a fast favorite of mine.
Moving on, we reach lead single “Die A Little Bit” – a gritty, pulsating, club banger with elements that give a nod to the underground vogue scene. The dark track features UK rapper Ms Banks, and some immaculately-timed audio bytes that you’ll be quoting with your crew in no time. I will say it’s not my favorite moment in the album, solely due to it’s placement. Lyrically, it continues the story we’ve begun – but sonically, I don’t like the fit. It feels a touch ill-positioned between two very smooth tracks, and the knocking beat creates a harsh transition into the next song. Please don’t get me wrong – love the song, but just not at this moment in the record.
Next up is also favorite of mine, and another segment of songs that I think fit so well together. “Perfect Crime”, written with brothers Kudzai and Thulani Kachingwe, is a soulful, bass-driven pop masterpiece with funky elements that keep you on your feet.Ya’ll I swear the first time I heard the opening line I was reminded of the beat of “Dance With Me” by 112, but it was definitely just an impression. This song couldn’t be any more different and original. It has thee best opening line of any song: “Quick – what’s better than me?” and starts off hard with a heavy set of lyrics masked beneath the beat.
“Don’t call – I don’t wanna think about us at all; it still hurts way too much. Bleed out – from the knife here in my chest that you left; my heart’s not healing up.”
Again, no stranger to an amazing outro, the song comes to a close with the engaging chant in which Tinashe expresses “I come alive in the night, in the moonlight”.
I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something about when Tinashe talks about extravagant vehicles that I LOVE. Cars seem to be a loosely common theme across her works, with titles like “Ride Of Your Life”, Joyride, and Nightride coming to mind.
Besides the obvious moments of flexing on “Cash Race”, I think it also takes huge melodic risks – from the instrumentation to the structure of the lyrics themselves. For example, the melody on the initial verse: if you notice, there’s almost an accent or emphasis on particular words – specifically the higher notes (words like “button” , “star” , and “diamond” you’ll notice produce an echo). That’s the attention to detail I’m looking for!
“Brand new coupe, missin’ roof, got ’em all shook. Ex callin’, hit decline, damn, I had to do it. Blah-blah, whoopty-whoop, cut all that noise. Got so many enemies, it ain’t my fault now, yah.”
“Cash Race” gives us yet another switch-up near the final third of the song, with a completely different beat and impeccable background vocals. Just as the beat begins to transition, I love the muffled vocals of “everybody actin” like they know me yeah, tryin’ to take a picture at the show yeah yeah” which actually appear later in the song. So it was basically referenced before it even happened, which is genius!