TInashe - Joyride

Tinashe for the last few years has joined the long list of Alternative R&B singers trying to break out of the classic R&B mold.  But for me, she's always seemed a little too safe.  On her 2014 debut "Aquarius", I think she put together some great singles, like "All Hands on Deck" and "2 On".  These were just seriously great modern R&B tunes with very flashy production and solid features.  But way too much of this album was unbelievably cheesy, from "How Many Times" to "Pretend".  To me, it seemed like Tinashe had loads of potential.  But to me, she seemed way too interested in making a slightly weird Pop album than something truly experimental.  Now, on the other hand, 2016's "Nightride" actually had some genuinely experimental qualities to it.  Tracks like "Sacrifices" and "Soul Glitch" were catchy and intriguing moments that showed Tinashe really pushing her boundaries.  But then I hear tracks like "Company" which was the lead single, and I just sort of get the same vibes about Tinashe's debut.  I feel like she would sit around and say, "Ok ok, we have to make this a really weird album......but not weird enough that it's not a radio smash".  So at the end of the day, I was just sort of neutral with "Nightride".  So Tinashe is back after a few years, and has seemingly thrown out everything that was sort of Alternative and genuinely experimental about her.  In some cases, it's actually sounding solid, in other cases not so much.  Let's chat about this new album!

    This album starts out with “Keep Your Eyes On The Road”, and I honestly have no idea what Tinashe is going for.  Is this supposed to excite me?  Pump me up?  Because it’s not doing either, it’s just wasting a lot of time.  Next up is “Joyride”, and I actually like some of her vocals here quite a bit.  I do think she comes off very steamy most of the time, which is most certainly where I want to hear my R&B.  But I can’t get fully behind this one.  This beat is sadly absolute trash.  For years, she’s been coming out with seemingly an endless list of average “Alternative R&B” beats.  This one wants to be so edgy so badly, but it’s nothing really special sadly.  Even her vocals start to get grating after a while, at least the ones soaked in effects.  Now, as far as Tinashe goes, she sounds fine, and her performance does have plenty of great things about it.  But sadly, I still think Tinashe has little to no idea of what she wants to do and what direction she wants to go in.  Now, at the very least, I think “No Drama” featuring Offset is a sort of decent modern Trap banger.  I like the very grim, cold beat, and as far as the Rap goes, Tinashe actually sounds just fine.  Now, if you’re familiar with Migos or Offset at all than you know what to expect from him.  And honestly, it’s all pretty good.  However, we do have to discuss something, don’t we?  This isn’t an Alternative R&B tune, hell this is barely an R&B tune.  This is the furthest thing from anything artsy, left-field or experimental.  This is a damn Pop tune, a decent one and all, but there’s no getting around that.  At this point, I just really wish Tinashe would sort of decide what she wants to be and stick to it.  Then we have “He Don’t Want It”, and I’m going to be perfectly honest, I do really love the production on this track.  Like, come on, this track is absolutely monstrous as well as suffocating.  In moments like this, Tinashe actually sounds like she’s pushing some boundaries.  But I can’t shake the feeling that too much of her material here is still dead focused on her wanting to be a Popstar.  While the beats and production here are cool, her vocal performance is so safe.  For years, I haven’t thought that Tinashe had taken her sound far enough, and from the sound of this, she is still suffering massively.  Now, “Ooh La La” on the other hand has the exact opposite problems.  I honest to freakin’ God cannot stand the production on this track at all, and the beat is one of the blandest I’ve heard all year.  Thankfully, Tinashe can really hold her own here as far as her performance goes.  Lyrically, yes this isn’t exactly the most exciting thing I’ve heard all year, or even interesting.  But her performance is steamy and charismatic, and vocally she sounds unbelievable.  I just wish she could even these sounds out a bit. 

    Up next is “Me So Bad”, and what does it say about the current state of R&B when the best track here has a French Montana feature.  This is, once again, FAR from the sort of Artsy R&B tunes she was going for years ago.  But for a mainstream, sort of tropical R&B tune that fans of Drake’s faux-dancehall will LOVE.  Ty Dolla $ign to be perfectly honest doesn’t sound too bad here, and French’s verse is easily one of his more tolerable. Overall, this one works for me.  But, um, what in God’s name is going on with “Ain’t Good For Ya”.  This isn’t an interlude, not even close.  This is literally just an unfinished thought, and let me tell you, that thought wasn’t exactly good.   Now, I was actually looking forward to hearing “Stuck With Me” featuring Little Dragon.  I didn’t think it would be too bad, and I mean, it’s far from the worst tune here.  But there is literally so little content here.  This track gets only 40 seconds in before it’s getting severely repetitive.  Thankfully, TInashe DOES sound good.  But Little Dragon’s contributions could have been so much more.  Plus, I actually really don’t mind some of the World music influences.  But outside of that, where is the content?  This album’s been in production a while, so where is all the damn content?  Then we get “Go Easy On Me”, which is actually one of the cooler moments here.  But I just wish, oh ya know, this was an actual fleshed out song and not 30 seconds.  Now, “Salt” may be the absolute coolest and most interesting sound here.  While this isn’t exactly the left field and artsy R&B that I’ve wanted to hear, this is the steamiest and most mysterious track I’ve ever heard out of Tinashe.  I love the snarky, attitude-filled lyrics, and just how passionate and bluesy she sounds.  Overall, hell yes I’m into this.  If Tinashe is going to go for a more mainstream sound, this is certainly the way to go.  There’s also a very retro vibe, and that guitar solo is a mighty nice touch.

    But for every track like “Salt”, there's a track like “Faded Love” which sounds like it could have been made by any faceless Pop Star.  The beat is trash, the production is way too glossy, and nothing about this track stands out at all.  And no, those backing vocals add nothing to this and don’t make this any less made for the radio.  I mean, for Christ’s sake, Future is on this track.  And no, he doesn’t do this track any justice.  Then we have the very sluggish, lumbering “No Contest”, which may just be the most un-interesting track here.  Like, I feel like this is something that Banks would come out with.  But at the very least, Banks is moody and interesting.  This is just severely underwritten and incredibly boring.  Sure, the hook is good, but that’s only because Tinashe at the end of the day can absolutely sing her ass off.  But as far as a track that I personally want to hear from her, this is not it.  Now, when this beat picks up a little, I actually think it gets a whole lot more interesting and fast.  But what even is the purpose of this album?  We’re 12 tracks in, just about done, and I feel like Tinashe still doesn’t know what she wants to do.  This album ends off with “Fires and Flames”.  This one is very classy sounding actually, and for the most part is just Tinashe and her piano.  And honestly, it’s not that bad at all.  Tinashe’s singing here is some of her most powerful on the album, and that’s saying something.  After all of her failed attempts on here to try to be desperately “Alternative” and a “Pop” star, this straightforward ballad is incredibly refreshing. 

Rating: 6.4/10

Give A Listen To: "No Drama", "Ooh La La", "Me So Bad", "Salt"

Genre: R&B / Alternative R&B

Overall Thoughts:  Tinashe is back with her third studio album, facing the same issues that she's faced for years.  Time after time, Tinashe puts out incredibly half-hearted attempts at Alternative R&B.  Whether it be with wonky production or some off-kilter beats, Tinashe tries it all.  But Tinashe, while she's interested in being an Alternative R&B icon, refuses to push her ideas to the limit.  The results may sound a little left-field sometimes, but at the end of the day just come off like mainstream R&B tunes.  And if that's what she's dealt with for years, you can only imagine how pathetic it is this time around when she's inviting guys like Future and Offset on.  This isn't an Alternative R&B album, this is a very half-hearted attempt to do something different with the modern R&B formula, with Tinashe missing sadly more than she hits home.