Perhaps not the fourth most experimental album of 2024, possibly not the fourth most shocking album of 2024, maybe not the most boundary breaking album of 2024, conceivably not the most 2024 album of 2024. But unquestionably, objectively and scientifically the fourth best album of 2024, because sometimes you just need to:
Ravyn Lenae’s near impossibly great debut album in 2022 was released when they were an impossibly young 23 years old and an impossibly precocious talent after working on their (motherfucking) craft and releasing music since they were an impossibly fuck you age of 16. ‘HYPNOS’ was an incredibly sultry and delicately (motherfucking) crafted set of smooth RnB jams that created special magic by often cloaking the most anguished and angry lyrics behind dreamlike moods and the most delicious honey like production you’re likely to hear. For ‘Bird’s Eye’, Lenae sets their ambitions far higher, and absolutely smacks them out of the park. Their second album is a far more diverse and far reaching set of songs, that take influence from sources as dissident as reggae (Candy kind of just is I’m Still In Love With You by Marcia Aitken, but that’s OK) and even indie rock (I can confirm that the Anderson .Paak co-credit Love Me Not is an absolute bop) but still ensuring that everything still makes sense under Ravyn’s extraordinarily singular brand of avant-adjacent RnB.
This album is, quite simply, the literal (not literal) dog’s bollocks. A suite of pure and untainted pop songs that manage to reach that hallowed ground of absolute potential mass appeal while still remaining true to the artist’s vision and not skimping on their incredible sense of musical adventurism and special sense of sonic textures. And – if I can go all normie for a second – Lenae is an extraordinarily talented singer, perfect slithering inside and all around these exquisite pop songs like a fast action infusion of sweet tasting fentanyl. It’s why Lenae is as big a deal as their similarly minded/talented contemporaries SZA, Solange Knowles and H.E.R.
Except their absolutely not as big as them, are they? Like, even close? Which is a major – potentially medical – malfunction with the general public at large, but at least means that I got to see them play Gorilla in Manchester – one of the sweatiest of sweaty indie clubs – and own the place like they were playing Madison Square Garden.
Album Title as AI Image
Necessary Evil 
One thought on “#4 Ravyn Lenae: Bird’s Eye”