Rochelle Jordan comes back with her frosty and pristine album to date.
Well, the story goes as always. I saw her popping up on the RYM charts one day, added her on my wishlist, revisited her past albums, and then gave this new album of hers more listens than I probably should have. I’ll admit that her past few records were fine, the production is mostly solid, her vocals remind me a bit too much of a softer Beyonce but she holds her own just fine, and her lyrics are somewhat detailed but can feel one-note with the relationship struggles that is peppered through those past albums.
Now it’s been 7 years since 1021, and I think that Rochelle pulled all the stops with this recent album. Expanding upon those futuristic house productions to the fullest, improving upon her vocal cadence, and switching things up a bit on her songwriting as well.
The said House production is all over this album with the help of her usual collaborator KLSH as well as other producers such as Machinedrum and Jimmy Edgar to further mold this chilly, pristine house production that is quite consistent and well balanced. I love the subdued and atmospheric touches of ‘Dancing Elephants’, the laid-back R&B sparkle of ‘Lay’, ‘All Along’ with the shuffling beat as well as some bass grooves, the grand swells of ‘Situation’, and the rapid drum and bass paired with pristine piano touches on ‘Love You Good’. Rochelle’s vocals help along with these crystalline, rather chill tones with her vocal tones that remind me of Kelela and a bit of Solange with her sweet tunes that’s laid back but still naturally charismatic too and there are spots where she uses that to emphasize the sense of cool on the production, especially on that rap verse of hers on ‘Already’.
The lyricism is also a big highlight as well. The theme of love is here, but it’s different, where it seems like a cycle of falling in love and falling apart. Details showing her seeking love, putting up a defense on her feminine strength as that might get advantaged by her lovers as well as her own weakness of falling in love a bit too hard. Then goes that cycle circulating across the album, falling apart with guys when things start to deflate and giving too much without receiving, falling in love with a new one to the point that she finds herself falling too hard for that guy, even if she discovers those problems lurking somewhere else.
I think my issue here is how some of the vocal melodies on some tracks feel quite clunky with the instrumental, some of the tracks on the first half and especially the midsection gets affected because of this like ‘Next 2 You’ and ‘Something’, and especially with the songs with the slower tempos such as ‘Nothing Left’ and ‘Count It’ that just felt jarring for me. I’m also not a fan of Farrah Fawx's croaking cadence on ‘Broken Steel’, just didn’t fit there, or how the transition felt odd between ‘Dancing Elephants’ and ‘Situation’ but that’s just a minor nitpick of mine.
This album grew on me a lot on those past several listens. The production is consistent across the board, the lyrics are still in the same ballpark thematically but it’s much well written this time around, her vocals are richer than before, and it’s just chill yet so infectious. Great record.
Favorite Tracks: Dancing Elephants, All Along, Lay, Love You Good, Already, Situation, Got Em, Next 2 You
Least Favorite Track: Count It