Category: Album – 12 tracks, runtime – 32 min
Genre: R&B
Release Date: 20.September.2024
Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ – 9/10
There’s only one another multi-track project we’ve reviewed that’s moved us this much. Even better for the previous instance, it was from an artist with no precedent of that level of mastery until that point. In the latest case though, it isn’t Xenia’s first time to drop a superbly curated array of gems. That doesn’t make it any less exciting, but we admit that it intensified our evaluative lenses a bit. In a way, that’s a compliment. She’s given us reason to afford her more scrutiny, ‘cause she’s that good! I suppose that should explain why our verdict is one star short. We’ll try to temper our raving to strike a tone of neutrality, but she makes it hard. First by the material, & then by her impressively intricate awareness of her strengths.
If you’re the kind to notice, you’ll catch the shrewd move she makes by having the first two tracks at only a minute & a half each. Same calculative instinct applied to two pleasantly contrasting pieces: The opener starts out with a cinematic feel, later transitioning into a hip-hopesque beat-driven number dealing out metaphors about being drunk in love. Yet the followup, on the other hand, is driven by afro-styled percussion, along with a delightful melange of approaches. For context, there’s an interesting West African-ness about the piece’s vocal melody, which is concurrently couched against a background of silky harmonies that’d be typical of African American R&B. The brevity of both pieces is rather reassuring – like heck, no fillers here. O…k, copy that!
For a little over half an hour, Xenia immerses us in sentimental tensions, attachments, denial & closure. Nothing new? Well, thing is, she has a way of adding unique twists to her explorations of emotions. Take our favorite track “Still Lose”, for instance. Buoyed by Hamzaa, whom we also believed to be the best on the project’s support roster, the percussionless tune adds an angsty beauty to hopelessness. As the pair belt out lines about staying resigned, anticipating an inevitably negative return on emotional effort into a relationship, they manage to turn a would-be sulky piece into an oddly powerful piece, at least on a sonic level.
Zooming out of it all, this project is a typically versatile spectrum of sound from Xenia. From typically dense urban beats as on tracks like “Fire” & “Bad Side”, to a reggae-themed number like “Dare You”, onto piercingly haunting electric guitar riffs percolating under a myriad layers of sound as heard on “Act a Fool”. As genres go on here, so does to the lyrical tone. Xenia finds a way to reframe what she feels into a new light. To sensual vulnerability, she adds a seductive aggression. And to her fears, an empowering resolve.
From a listener’s vantage point, it’s a half hour of excesses filling out crevices of inadequacy, both sonically & thematically. And it makes for a uniquely satisfying experience. Now onto the pressing question, is this a duology? Or is there a Pt. 3 to it?
