Ravyn Lenae has released her third album, Blue Island, a project that examines the expectations placed on Black women in pop music while widening her sonic range and self-awareness.
The album draws on a personal journey over the past year and moves through synth-pop, beachy soft rock and 1990s-tinged R&B. Lenae anchors the varied material in the sounds of the 1980s.
1980s New Wave and vintage R&B#
Gated reverb and a New Wave-influenced chorus open the album on Handle. Wish You Well is a power-pop ballad with elements associated with Cyndi Lauper and Wilson Phillips.
Other tracks reach for vintage R&B. Babygirl features a guest verse from Doechii, and Never Let Me Go uses a cinéma vérité approach. Reputation features Dominic Fike. Find It One Day is a New Jack Swing slow-burner.
Featured artists and track list#
Tracks referenced on Blue Island include:
- Handle
- Wish You Well
- Babygirl featuring Doechii
- Never Let Me Go
- Reputation featuring Dominic Fike
- Sew Me Back Together
- Familiar Dreams
- Find It One Day
- Potential
- Let Us In
Modern production thread#
A hyperpop-adjacent thread runs alongside the 1980s influence. It appears in the final act of Potential as a propulsive, distorted, syncopated beat, and returns fully on the closing track Let Us In.
The album was made in a more playful mode of creativity, and some songs carry multiple sonic threads across their runtime.
