ALBUM REIVEW: Kelela - Raven

    Kelela had previously made major waves back in 2017 with her debut album Take Me Apart - even before that, Kelela had praise for being on the cutting edge of R&B since her 2013 mixtape Cut 4 Me which was lauded for its ambitious production style and ability to the push the barrier of what R&B can be in the 2010s. With her 2015 EP Hallucinogen, Kelela was yet again recognized as a promising artist with a fruitful career in the making - a brilliantly structured concept piece about the fallout of a relationship, tight enough to where I feel it could feasibly be played in reverse and still be incredibly cohesive. Following Take Me Apart and it's similar praise for futuristic production, Kelela took a large break and didn't release material outside of a Take Me Apart remix album. Well, she's back, and Raven is just as big a statement as any from Kelela. Raven is seemingly yet another great release from Kelelea, with the same stylistic cohesion, talented and smooth voice, and immaculate production through and through, Kelela's first studio album in six years is certainly well worth the wait.

    The best thing going for Raven in my book is the immaculate style and execution of the album, right down to the cover. After the splash of the opening track "Washed Away", the album enters into what I can only describe as an increasing sinking feeling throughout, only emphasized by the brilliant production on the album - it's clean and professional, which is all but fitting for the R&B genre that she's so cleanly tackling, but it all comes with a decisively muddy feeling at many points, which fits with the submerged aesthetic of the album. This mood is also emphasized by the more sparse second half of the album, which stands in contrast to the more energetic first half. In spite of some stylistic contrasts, Raven is a remarkably cohesive project with every song having a brilliant ebb and flow into each other, making it a smooth listen if nothing else. My only real issue is that the smoothness can leave a bit of the second half sounding same-y because of the slower vibes, but it isn't so similar that it's impossible to distinguish songs from one another - this isn't the new YoungBoy album, after all.

    Kelela also boosts the album throughout with her excellent performances and songwriting, the latter of which also carries a thematic constant for a good amount of the album. Much like Hallucionogen's storytelling through a relationship, much of Raven leans on themes of love. Moments like the galvanizing "Happy Ending" have an undertone of a failed relationship, but with an acknowledgement "we both know you wanna stay." From there, I get the feeling that the rest of the album plays out like a story of two lovers and their continuing relationship strife, and it's executed amazingly well by Kelela. From the accepting of love on "Let It Go" to the party anthem of "Contact" at what might be the album at its most energetic and upbeat, to the falling out on "Divorce" and "Enough for Love" in the album's final moments. All of this adds to the album's immaculate flow, and it helps that Kelela's songwriting is particularly strong and that there is hardly a miss on the album, save for the Rahrah Gabor feature on "Closure" that drags down the song. It all comes together on the closing track "Far Away", which also has a perfect loop back into the beginning of the album - it reminds me of IGOR by Tyler, the Creator, the cycle of love and heartbreak repeating yet again.

    Raven continues a dominant streak from Kelela in the R&B space, and the results may even be her most stylistically cohesive record yet. A well-executed menagerie of sounds and moods span the album's simple-yet-effective concept, all of which compliment the record's murky-yet-clean production and Kelela's shining performances throughout. It's another heavy hitter from 2023, a year that's already proving to be better than usual with newer releases from what I've been hearing, and frankly I'm all here for it. With such brilliant execution and confidence, Raven is far from a sophomore slump - it may even prove to be one of the year's must-hear albums.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Raven.