Kelela has made a career of decadently infusing soulful R&B melodies into pulsing EDM beats, submerging the listener in her atmosphere. On her sophomore studio LP, Raven, she draws the listener into dark clubs, sultry bedrooms and crowded streets.
The title track is a gloomy but cathartic meditation on finding clarity after heartbreak. Drifting on a buzzing siren, Kelela opens the gateway to solitude with a reclamation of power and peace: "Through all the labor / A raven is reborn / They tried to break her / There's nothing here to mourn." Celestial synths, glittering keys, pumping bass and a thundering kick evoke a being taking on new form, the eponymous bird departing from Poe's misery and embracing its capacity for prophetic vision. Wading through this murkiness, Kelela emerges with clarity. Some loves are there to learn from, not to last.
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