Blue Water Road by Kehlani | Album Review

The Oakland-native's third studio album is another step forward in her career, and they've never sounded more comfortable in their own skin.

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Kehlani's third studio album, blue water road, is another step forward in her career, where she is at her most mature and theatrical in her balmy, lucid songwriting. She's never sounded more comfortable in her own skin.

Score: 8.5/10 (Best New Music)⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Kehlani released the first single of blue water road in 2021 titled "Altar" it instantly signaled a shift for the singer, moving forward slowly in the alt-R&B direction. Her last album was "It Was Good Until It Wasn't", released in 2020, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a time when people were anxious and in their skin constantly, but things have changed for Kehlani, she sounds free. Her third studio album, blue water road, is another step forward in her career, where she is at her most mature and theatrical in her balmy, lucid songwriting. She's never sounded more comfortable in her own skin.

The beauties of Kehlani's works are usually powered by the forces that make and break romance as a whole. Kehlani is the best at directing her clear-eyed approach through love songs that can sound meticulously crafted and still be in varieties of what can push and pull love, both together and apart. The basis of blue water road's theme is different from all her projects, as it's the first that is directed solely on her newfound queer love, motherhood, and maturity. On "more than i should", she says "Is it really cheatin' if she ain't lovin' me right? , If she's not touchin' me right?", an eerie reference to her classic, confessive wordplay, while being playful with the album's recurring themes.

blue water road immediately summons you in guitar-chord mode on "little story", the most beautiful Kehlani intro, offering a simple yet passionate slow opener, using experimental and orchestral elements to emphasize the start of the theatrical effect that rolls out in slow and steady waves of sensuous R&B, reminiscent of a car ride scrolling through a sunset in the breezy Miami beaches (and strip clubs...) Flowing right into "any given sunday" where Kehlani expresses her dominance, humorously and attractively. It's a standout track and one of Kehlani's most dynamic, already stating that the production on the record is very lowkey, allowing for Kehlani’s ebullient vocals and vivid lyricism to take center stage. The road to the blue waters is beautiful but there's a lot of tireless work to get to it. She is deserving of it all but eager than ever to bet it all on love though.

blue water road is built around simplicity, it doesn't hold that deep context of heartbreak and agony like Kehlani's past albums do, but it holds something deeper and new-found that hasn't been seen in her recent work until now, and it's one of Kehlani's best powers: it's her ability to express emotion through all different angles of self-esteem and sensual desires. On album highlight "melt", she coos “Being this close isn’t close enough,” she's always handled stories of toxic love & heartbreak; it’s refreshing to hear that same care and desire applied to a steady and smooth companionship, and it's something she can do best when going on and on about fingers through her hair and going anywhere, even when it's a little turbulent.

That's the beauty of the simplicity though, it allows Kehlani to express herself freely, with no strings attached. On "shooter", blue water road's interlude, she opens by loudly clearing her throat, saying quickly after, "And I’m keeping all this part, too." It may be a bumpy road in terms of recording this ride, but the rawness of it—choosing to leave in a mistake—sets the tone for honest reflection. Honesty plays a big part in this record too, even when we have different styles of bangers, there's a lot to choose from sultry strip club joints and guitar-led ballads.

Versatility makes this unreal, to begin with. On “get me started,” a daring duet with Syd, Kehlani’s voice is matched with hers and it's like hushed grace. Later, during “more than i should,” she does it again with Jessie Reyez, their voices are mischievous and stretchy, like bubble gum around a tongue. This part of the album sounds like shores, luscious waves pulling you in. It's obvious, this is vibe music. Upbeat songs like "any given sunday" with up and coming rapper Blxst, and "up at night", a Justin Bieber duet, offer more of a jolt and bolt to the slow, silky tracklist.

It takes time to analyze the true emotions of Kehlani on blue water road, in which she seems very brutal and unabashed but expresses her pain vulnerably in these songs. While past Kehlani projects were façades of romantic uncertainty and portraits where she felt like she was both falling apart, and into love, blue water road shows a side of Kehlani where she is at her most endearing and even if it seems a little corny at times, Kehlani is constantly expanding her palate to create records in which they feel like escapism in it's finest form, most of all, in the signature Kehlani way. Silky, synth R&B cuts, dashes of classic hip-hop, but the true gift lies in Kehlani's honesty and her lyricism that resonates the deepest. Kehlani is only getting better from here, and blue water road is an assurance that her best is yet to come. For the most part, though, this album finds Kehlani at her best yet– softer, stronger, and better than ever. It all seems like a coastal dream. It's beautiful. It's Kehlani. You will always feel what she feels.

- N

Buy Kehlani's third studio album "blue water road" now on Rough Trade