Ravyn Lenae<\/a> navigates the complexities of what it means to be a Black woman in pop music, interrogating the expectations of these identity politics by broadening her sonic scope and, in the process, her own self-awareness.<\/p>\nTaking inspiration from her personal journey over the past year, Lenae finds herself in a more playful mode of creativity on Blue Island<\/em>. The result is a stylistically varied body of work that swings from slightly experimental synth-pop to beachy soft rock and \u201990s-tinged R&B.<\/p>\nAs genre-fluid as the project is, Lenae threads everything together by locating herself within a distinct era: the \u201980s. The DNA of the decade is all over the album, from the gated reverb and New Wave-slanted chorus of opening track \u201cHandle\u201d to standout \u201cWish You Well\u201d, a shimmering power-pop ballad that\u2019s one part Cyndi Lauper with a generous dose of Wilson Phillips. It\u2019s a direction that suits Lenae alarmingly well, making for some of the most engrossing and refreshing moments Blue Island<\/em> has to offer.<\/p>\nThese are contrasted by a handful of tracks that reach for vintage R&B, with varying results. \u201cBabygirl\u201d, featuring a brilliant guest verse from Doechii, and the touching cin\u00e9ma v\u00e9rit\u00e9 of \u201cNever Let Me Go\u201d are among the strongest of these, while songs like \u201cReputation\u201d, featuring Dominic Fike, \u201cSew Me Back Together\u201d and \u201cFamiliar Dreams\u201d sound a little too familiar, feeling less impactful alongside heavy hitters like the New Jack Swing slow-burner \u201cFind It One Day\u201d. This track, in particular, sounds like an instant classic, striking the perfect balance between nostalgic, familiar melodies and a contemporary pop sensibility.<\/p>\n
This is where Blue Island<\/em> truly finds its stride. Running alongside Lenae\u2019s \u201980s New Wave influence is a modern, hyperpop-adjacent thread that feels both unexpected and exhilarating. It first emerges in the final act of \u201cPotential\u201d\u2014which could easily have opened the album\u2014as a propulsive, distorted, syncopated beat before arriving fully formed on the walloping closer, \u201cLet Us In\u201d.<\/p>\nBlue Island<\/em> finds Lenae in an exciting space. She\u2019s locked into her own voice, creating from a place of creative liberation. But the project occasionally buckles under the weight of its ambitions, with some songs struggling to carry its multitude of sonic threads from one moment to the next. There\u2019s a solid album lurking beneath the excess\u2014one that proposes a blueprint for Ravyn Lenae\u2019s future that, if refined enough to match the scale of her ambitions, could make her a truly unstoppable force.<\/p>\n\n\n