Kelela
Raven
Release Date: Feb 10, 2023
Genre(s): R&B
Record label: Warp
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Album Review: Raven by Kelela
Phenomenal, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 4.7/5
In a recent Vulture interview, Kelela compares the latest entry in her catalog to slipping down a dark water slide: all twists, turns, and lurches. And the trip is darkest just before the moment you're spit out into the unknown. Brimming with synth undercurrents, transfluid melodies, and delightfully jarring production shifts, Raven is a transfixing ode to human connection, interpersonal communication, and Black femininity.
Opinion: Excellent
Five years since her fan favourite debut full-length 'Take Me Apart ' made its mark, Kelela Mizanekristos returns with follow-up 'Raven', a sparse, spaced-out devotional to the cathartic power of rave. A simulation that seeks to reclaim the narrative around dance in cisnormative spaces, Kelela's version of club-skewed music is dense and multidimensional: here she seeks to cultivate a collaborative space, framing her isolation as a communal utopia. What took Kelela so long? Stemming from a period of internal reckoning, Kelela was prompted to reevaluate her relationship with music and where she would next take her artistry.
Opinion: Excellent
Tags: Kelela, Reviews, Album Reviews.
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