Kali Uchis - Red Moon In Venus

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE DELETED A REVIEW AM I BLIND??????

Im soooo sooo sorry lol.

Here it is again if you want to read it.

Although admittedly some tracks blend into one another, Kali Uchis’ 3rd studio album ‘Red Moon In Venus’ is a soft, sensual, and tropical retreat as she fights for love.

After the success of her debut album ‘Isolation’, and the almost equally as good ‘Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞’, as a listener I was extremely excited to see what was next. Kali’s knack for melodies combined incredibly sticky production from the likes of Thundercat, Steve Lacy, Tainy, Soundwave and more are really up my alley. And after the first single ‘I Wish you Roses’ released in January of this year, its lush and enveloping atmospheres made me extremely anticipated for this upcoming album. And although I still think Isolation tops this release, Red Moon in Venus definitely lived up to my expectations.

The strongest thing about this album 100% is its cohesion. These songs and their different moods and colors swap and transition from one another so effortlessly to create a pretty hazy and wonderful listening experience. To me, the selling point of Red Moon In Venus is its aesthetic, as like on the album cover, each track feels like a blossoming wonderland filled with a whole lot of reverb (which I like don’t worry lol). Kali effortlessly dives into the pockets of each track like butter, and the spaced out drums and groovy baselines just add to this hazy feel.

Like in most of her work up to this point, Kali has her mind on love on ‘Red Moon in Venus’. Basically every track on this album is a love song, whether it is Kali or the narrator being obsessed with a man on tracks like the wonderfully sweet Worth the Wait with Omar Apollo, or if Kali just simply wants to get high with a lover on the insanely catchy ‘Moonlight.’ This makes sense, considering her relationship with Don Toliver that has lasted for almost two years now, and this lovestruck lyricism matches with the album’s gorgeous instrumentals.

The main fault of this album for me though is simply due to the fact that it can be a little too cohesive. You might wonder how that’s a problem, as I was just praising it beforehand, but it is more due to the fact that some of the songs individually do not stand out on their own as much as I would have hoped. Tracks like Fantasy and reveals this, as their somewhat basic instrumentation and not as strong hooks can just make them feel slightly underdeveloped, serving just to continue the experience.

As I listen to this album more though, these tracks keep growing on me at an individual level, and I hope Red Moon in Venus’ low points start to wither away with time, because as a whole I loved this album and what it was going for. I just hope on the next LP there will be a little more variety within Kali’s lyrics and production.

Best tracks: I Wish you Roses*, Worth the Wait, All Mine, Como Te Quiero Yo, Endlessly*, Moral Concscience, Not Too Late (interlude), Deserve Me, Moonlight*

Least fav: Fantasy