SLOTH-SOUND by Oskar Vier

On her longly held-back debut album, RAYE covers a lot of ground stylistically whilst tackling nearly every big societal theme of current generations. So, both from a musical and lyrical standpoint, she makes her 21st century blues. Although RAYE tries to puzzle it all together in a cohesive way by framing the album with a dedicated intro and outro track, the album ultimately ends up feeling disjointed and a little all over the place. Many of the songs do not impress from a songwriting standpoint and many of the genre twists do not pay off in the end, like the pop rap of Hard Out Here. or the house of Black Mascara.. Still, there's something very charismatic, sometimes even triumphant about My 21st Century Blues and RAYE certainly shows her potential and incredible range with some of the highlights of the project.

6 / 10

Highlights: "The Thrill Is Gone."; "Mary Jane."; "Escapism."; "Worth It."; "Buss It Down."