April 2017 - Music
Album of the Month - So Good By Zara Larsson
Swedish singer Zara Larsson is a postmodern pop star. She’s like a Rihanna-doting teen gate crashing a tropical house party, gun fingers blazing, and her sugar-soaked songs have had more than 1bn Spotify streams. Unlike the vetted chart artists of the 90s, she has social media accounts filled with political opinions and profanities, and her songs are imbued with honesty, too.
The rubbery bounce of Lush Life – the sixth biggest track of 2016 – is naggingly catchy, and there’s also a lot of parody: dancehall track Sundown is pure Purpose-era Bieber. It just about works in 2017, but at a time when pop continually looks to the future, So Good is in danger of dating quickly.
Living up to its title, So Good -- the sophomore set from Swedish singer Zara Larsson -- arrived after a two-year promotional rollout that followed the release of her debut. Her slow climb toward the upper pop strata occupied by Rihanna, Sia, and Tove Lo -- the artists whose vocals Larsson most closely echoes -- began in 2015 with the quadruple-platinum number one single "Lush Life," an effective dose of tropical pop that rides the surf with a playful whistle and undeniable bounce. Quickly following with the skittering staccato of MNEK duet "Never Forget You," Larsson scored another hit. Two subsequent album highlights -- the bass-blasted "Ain't My Fault" and "I Would Like" -- provided additional examples of her strong voice and confident attitude. By the time fifth single -- the Ty Dolla $ign-featuring, Charlie Puth-penned title track, arrived in 2017, a third of So Good had been unveiled. Despite the significant time gap, So Good remains a tight vision full of romantic drama, youthful abandon, and a strong sense of female empowerment. When Larsson delves even deeper, the results are refreshing. Fun and engaging, Larsson made one of the better pop albums of 2017. Larsson delivers polished R&B-influenced pop gems that shine bright like diamonds while maintaining a too-cool-for-school factor that helps to distinguish her from the bubble-gum. My rating 8/10.
Swedish singer Zara Larsson is a postmodern pop star. She’s like a Rihanna-doting teen gate crashing a tropical house party, gun fingers blazing, and her sugar-soaked songs have had more than 1bn Spotify streams. Unlike the vetted chart artists of the 90s, she has social media accounts filled with political opinions and profanities, and her songs are imbued with honesty, too.
The rubbery bounce of Lush Life – the sixth biggest track of 2016 – is naggingly catchy, and there’s also a lot of parody: dancehall track Sundown is pure Purpose-era Bieber. It just about works in 2017, but at a time when pop continually looks to the future, So Good is in danger of dating quickly.
Living up to its title, So Good -- the sophomore set from Swedish singer Zara Larsson -- arrived after a two-year promotional rollout that followed the release of her debut. Her slow climb toward the upper pop strata occupied by Rihanna, Sia, and Tove Lo -- the artists whose vocals Larsson most closely echoes -- began in 2015 with the quadruple-platinum number one single "Lush Life," an effective dose of tropical pop that rides the surf with a playful whistle and undeniable bounce. Quickly following with the skittering staccato of MNEK duet "Never Forget You," Larsson scored another hit. Two subsequent album highlights -- the bass-blasted "Ain't My Fault" and "I Would Like" -- provided additional examples of her strong voice and confident attitude. By the time fifth single -- the Ty Dolla $ign-featuring, Charlie Puth-penned title track, arrived in 2017, a third of So Good had been unveiled. Despite the significant time gap, So Good remains a tight vision full of romantic drama, youthful abandon, and a strong sense of female empowerment. When Larsson delves even deeper, the results are refreshing. Fun and engaging, Larsson made one of the better pop albums of 2017. Larsson delivers polished R&B-influenced pop gems that shine bright like diamonds while maintaining a too-cool-for-school factor that helps to distinguish her from the bubble-gum. My rating 8/10.
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