Few artists in the 2020s are as deserving of carte blanche as
Kali Uchis. Before delivering
Red Moon in Venus, the singer and songwriter had earned a Latin Grammy nomination, a Grammy win for Best Dance Recording, and other nominations in the R&B and Musica Urbana fields, plus platinum certifications as headliner or co-star of five rather different singles.
Isolation and
Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Demonios) â?? behind her,
Uchis seemed primed for the difficult third album with every right to unload a carnivalesque triple LP presented as a fuzzy concept with enough stylistic whimsicality to offer something for everyone.
Red Moon in Venus instead is highly concentrated in every respect. Flush with supple slow jams and celestial ballads, it's mostly about love, from possessiveness and blissful escape to vexation and bittersweet farewell. While it doesn't have the swagger or humor of
Isolation, it's engaging from start to finish, consistently palatable.
Uchis somehow displays as much charisma and vocal elasticity as ever, and her verses are often as instantly memorable as her hooks. Assorted production allies -- longtime associate
Josh Crocker, the equally compatible
Sir Dylan, and resurgent master
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins among them -- help
Uchis make each sound her own. "Hasta Cuando," frosted electro with a bumping beat that recalls
Whodini, deals out teeth-kissing bilingual retribution: "Dices que yo la vida te la jodi/It's sad that you're still obsessed, keep lyin' on me." "Blue," lithe sophisti-pop replete with saxophone, makes dejection sound as glamorous as anything by
Everything But the Girl or
Sade. Philly soul older than half a century is evoked in "Love Between...," a dazed ballad rendered with enchanting finesse. Part of what makes the album remarkable is that these ideas sound fresh beside songs like "I Wish You Roses," "Endlessly," and the
Don Toliver duet "Fantasy," additional highlights that emit kaleidoscopic swirls of pop-R&B, warm rays of post-disco boogie, and romantic dancefloor heat. The low-spirited moments are typically as alluring as the bliss-outs, and though there's a breakup in the mix,
Red Moon finishes as
Uchis pushes the reset button on a relationship with a strong sense of optimism. ~ Andy Kellman
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