Crash begins with Kehlani Parrish tumbling by way of watery depths. “I’m form of loopy,” they sing as a backing refrain trills flippantly in a mirrored image of asphyxia. Once they hit the ocean’s ground, the beat switches on “GrooveTheory” right into a sluggish, sinuous lower, the type that will likely be acquainted to followers of the non-binary singer’s vibrant, iconoclastic previous work, which has exerted a serious affect on the queering of latest Black pop. “Come speak with me/Wanna get you open,” they sing.
What unfolds on Crash proves to be something however formulaic. “After Hours,” which has made some noise on the pop charts, revolves round Rohan “Snowcone” Fuller’s “Applause” riddim from Sean Paul’s “Temperature.” (The observe is produced by Kristopher Riddick-Tynes and Alex Goldblatt.) “Tears” luxuriates in house-y beats and a cameo from Afrobeats singer Omah Lay. Then there’s “Crash” and “Higher Not,” two country-ish numbers with slide guitar that replicate the Zeitgeist’s present obsession with the yeehaw agenda.
Most of those songs revolve round sexual pleasure, typically in baldly raunchy methods. “I desire a bitch that look higher than me/Pussy get higher than me,” Kehlani sings on “What I Need,” which additionally samples the hook from Christina Aguilera’s “What a Woman Needs.” The songcraft additionally feels looser, and never at all times in compelling methods. “8” finds them chanting “8, 8, 8” monotonously, with the quantity symbolizing…properly, I in all probability don’t want to elucidate it to you. Doja Cat did it higher on “Juicy.” In the meantime, “Sucia” opens with spoken-word erotica by Jill Scott and gives a sluggish, grinding funk pulse paying homage to Prince’s “Scandalous” or D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Really feel)” in addition to a cameo from Younger Miko. “Woman, it’s best to style the water out of your properly,” lilts Kehlani.
In an interview with Apple Music, Kehlani defined that Crash is meant to be a “joyful” work. “For as soon as, I’m not connected to some story or some public factor or some trauma or some deep explanations,” they stated. That should really feel releasing to somebody who has lengthy been an object of scrutiny, whether or not it’s their sexual id, star-crossed amorous affairs or, extra not too long ago, criticism for supporting Palestine throughout Israel’s invasion of Gaza. The video for “Subsequent 2 You” options them and a phalanx of dancers stepping arduous in keffiyeh-patterned outfits. In an Instagram put up, Kehlani claimed that unnamed artists “ghosted” them on account of their advocacy. “Due to my political stance, I couldn’t get any options,” they stated. But whereas the visible affect of “Subsequent 2 You” is unmistakable, the tune’s lyrics – “They gon’ should name the regulation/I don’t care what they provide, I’m defending you” – looks as if too-vague guarantees.
Regardless of their present aversion to “deep explanations,” Kehlani’s albums are memorable for his or her potential to render travails each public or non-public, into heart-rending musical poetry. It’s the best way they turned social media assaults and a extremely publicized psychological breakdown into “Peace of Thoughts” on 2017’s wonderful SweetSexySavage; and the way every subsequent full-length charted their maturity, from the hard-won self-acceptance they expressed on 2020’s It Was Good Till It Wasn’t, to the interior peace and maternal resolve that personified 2022’s blue water highway. Sure, Kehlani has at all times been junglelistically sexy. Their power lies in intuiting life classes of their all-too-human passions.
With no clear sense of function, Crash feels a bit scattershot as Kehlani turns up the warmth and racks up the jams. But there’s a number of moments that lower by way of the physique speak. On “Lose My Spouse,” they admit “I’ve been wilding out tonight” whereas crooning over a mesmeric folk-soul rhythm. And on “Vegas,” they sing, “Whereas the world’s on fireplace, we’re getting excessive, making love.” It’s a deliberate try and lose themselves in an ecstatic embrace that appears destined to collapse. However one can’t blame them for attempting.
