REVIEW: Tinashe, Tinashe

Tinashe
Tinashe
Compilation

Image used for the Spotify comp. release Tinashe

One day a while back I was shocked to find a new Tinashe album, apparently chucked onto Spotify without any fanfare. An immaculate picture of the svelte RnB vixen served as the cover image for what I (wrongly) assumed was her 2nd studio album. I thought it a little strange (at the time) that it was 20 tracks & both of her recent singles were omitted, 'but', I thought, 'this is what record companies do all the time now.' In the case of Tinashe, what I thought I was witnessing was a failed & botched attempt at a campaign, unraveling in slow-motion. First there was an (unfortunately) Chris Brown-assisted lead single Player. I could go on & on about how I feel about the 'let's-tack-Chris-Brown-on-here-so-we-can-get-radio-play" strategy (It doesn't work!) but I won't do that here. Player is a mildly un-inspiring piece of Electro-RnB, very modern & shiny, but completely unmemorable otherwise. Nobody will remember it, anyway, except for the music video, which the label clearly shelled out a fair amount of dollars for. It is a shame because, after the 'failure' of Player to really catch on, Tinashe may not receive this treatment again. After Player set the charts alite, becoming a top-200 hit in France, the label followed it with another single (this time sans-douchebag**). It was (is?) called Ride Of Your Life, & is about how a 'blunt-ride' with Tinashe would be the best time of your pathetic life. The trip-inducing single cover shows her with a toy car driving out of her mouth. whooooo.

Literally the thrillz. The Thrillz.

So, I find this gigantor album on Spotify (It is legal here now! lol #3yearsagocomedy) sans its 2 singles, and I just assume that it is some sort of asinine major label release strategy, in whose arcane logic I could never possibly grasp. Actually, it is not an *album* so to speak, though the material is completely new to me and to, I assume, most of what will become the audience of this record. What Tinashe actually is is a collection of tracks the singer had already released on previous mix-tapes, dating from around 2012. So that makes this a *mix-tape compilation*. lol. Literally the farthest thing from an official studio album release. But the quality, breadth of instrumental palette, sophistication of delivery, song-writing, & production led me to believe whole-heartedly that this was, in fact, a studio album (& quite a well-produced one at that). This being 2012-era material, it is plausible perhaps that it reminds me of LeToya's 2009 exquisite Electro-R&B album Lady Love. It also reminded me, for reasons of production, to Tamar-sans-Braxton's (at this point) debut album, 2000's Tamar. Both LeToya's 2nd & Tamar's first are far from wholly satisfying ventures (few R&B or Pop albums are, really), but on certain tracks, each demonstrated the current of life that runs through the history of Urban music; that R&B is dynamic and continues to be alive. Tamar & Lady Love on the whole sounded quite unlike albums released in their midst, were quite chill affairs, relaxed with a sometimes-cynical approach to the world around their creators. Both used exquisite synthesized arrangements, but it was Lady Love that has been, for me, the defining exemplar of what it means to be "Electro-R&B" since I devoured this album in 2009/10. Beautifully electronic, yet still urban, Lady Love has simply been one of the most astounding aural experiences to grace my headphones ever.

Destiny's Child-reject LeToya's 2nd studio album

Well, this has gone on for like a page and I have yet to actually talk about Tinashe. Woo! Ok, moving on. My point in bringing up Lady Love & Tamar is that, simply put, if you like albums like these, if you like your R&B to bring a lot more to the table than it is normally required to do, than check out the tracks on Tinashe because you will be spinning these (metaphorically, of course, unless you are a hipster*) for months. Unless you have already heard these, in which case you are not an arriviste-philistine like I. Highlights of this mixtape compilation (so bizarre) include Black Water, Midnight Sun, Middle Of Nowhere, 1 For Me, Vulnerable, Reverie, I'm Selfish, & the absolutely-exquisite Who Am I Working For. Black Water is a focused, atmospheric warning. & I love a good morality tale/prophetic warning in pop musick so I love this one especially. Black Water also is one of those songs that uses the line like "expensive things don't mean a thing" or some such variant thereof. So good! & scary! (as 'Blackwater' also kills people!) Pretty much Tinashe's entire output is atmospheric but Black Water is especially so. Midnight Sun is an exquisite 'I'll be there for you when no one else is' song (again, another cliche, but so delicately & exquisitely executed that the result is a precious gem almost as beautiful as the woman herself) that ends in a surprisingly-explicit come-hither sex rap. Middle Of Nowhere succesfully & evocatively communicates the desolation of a desert life despite the fact that we all know it is really about the isolation of suburban life (probably; I don't know). 1 For Me is an only somewhat-forlorn admission that Tinashe has not found her love, but that he (or she??) has not arrived in her life yet (Quite relateable, one would think.) Vulnerable is the odd song that you find a female character not only pursuing a male in an almost-rapey way, but that she is insatiable in demanding the cravings of her ego (& id) to be fulfilled. Reverie is a lovely ChillNB banger. I'm Selfish details a woman's struggle in coming to terms with the fact that she is a bad lesbian. Every time she tries to turn toward her female lover, the desire for a man overcomes her once again, and she must deal with her 'selfish' ways. Not enough songs about this, I think. Clearly aiming for 1) status as the Tea Party anthem of summer 2016 & 2) the musical calling-card of confused, but employed, people everywhere, Who Am I Working For (no '?') is a masterfully executed & arranged Electro-R&B where 2012-era Tinashe complains about being a broke bitch & having to pay up because the tax-man is at her door. I'm actually kind of worried for Tinashe, because if he is actually at your door, you must be a pretty-serious delinquint in that respect. Tinashe needs some tax relief & also perhaps some learning from the example of Wesley Snipes!

Pay up Tinashe!

Anyway, all-in-all, Tinashe is undeniably bloated, but there are true gems in here if you are willing to sit through about 15 'chill&b' songs that all blend into one another. Tinashe's delicate vocals are sometimes very nearly short of astounding &, as I said, the production is simply stellar. To think this was not even officially-commissioned material, and that the artists were receiving no compensation for this work is even more curious, as this really could have helped her debut studio effort, Aquarius (also a lopsided venture.) Tinashe is the best Spotify-only mixtape compilation that you have ever heard, dare I say, the best Spotify-only mixtape compilation of the decade, perhaps even of the century. I can say that with some certainty ☭

Tinashe's debut studio album Aquarius could have used some of these songs!

*But this spotify-only mixtape compilation is certainly not on vinyl, so that makes you a lying hipster

** Interestingly, Chris Brown has just 'lashed out' at Tinashe & other artists who 'unfollowed' him on social media after he publicly mocked R&B singer Kehlani when news of her suicide attempt surfaced in the media. Tinashe also made a recent disclosure that she didn't choose Chris Brown for Player: "It's really the label"

Verdict: Stream it! ✓

Tinashe 

1. Black Water ★

2. Midnight Sun ★

3. Secret Weapon ✓

4. Middle Of Nowhere ★

5. Just A Taste ⛌

6. 1 For Me ★

7. Daybreak ⛌

8. Fugitive ✓

9. Stunt ✓

10. Ain't Ready... ★

11. Vulnerable ✓

12. Fear Not ⛌

13. Stargazing ✓

14. Yours ✓

15. Slow ✓

16. Another Me ⛌

17. Come When I Call ★

18. Illusions ★

19. Reverie ✓

20. I'm Selfish ★

21. Ecstasy ⛌

22. Who Am I Working For ★

Points for comparison: