Petrichor—the biochemical time period for the way the earth smells proper after it rains—is a phenomenon of reminiscence in addition to rot. The scent is determined by the make-up of a spot—metropolis asphalt has its personal petrichor, completely different from that of rural woods—and extra particularly, the decomposing matter round it. Regardless of these fetid origins, folks constantly rank it amongst their favourite scents, looking for it out in perfume and within the subject. Maybe they’re drawn to the decay.
070 Shake actually is. Her lyrics plumb the torment of affection with out flinching; her voice usually sounds prefer it’s effervescent up from the depths. Petrichor is an ideal album title for her; as she informed Vogue, the scent-memory is “a mirrored image of the music itself.” Those that’ve adopted Shake since 2016, when she signed to G.O.O.D. Music, already know this. However thousands and thousands extra listeners realized in 2022, from her function on British artist RAYE’s monumental single “Escapism.” The observe, a nasty journey from afterparty to aftermath, clawed its approach out of TikTok to the Billboard Scorching 100 (each RAYE and Shake’s first entry there) to Tune of the 12 months on the BRIT Awards. The track wouldn’t absolutely work with out Shake’s third verse. She deglamorizes the affair; all of the frantic posturing falls away till it’s simply her and her defeat.
On Petrichor, 070 Shake is properly conscious that bigger levels are forthcoming, and he or she expands her sound accordingly. As on her previous work, a lot of the album is co-produced by Dave Hamelin (Beyoncé, Leikeli47) and Johan Lenox (Huge Sean, No I.D.) However there are modifications. Megaproducer Mike Dean is out; pop songwriter Sarah Aarons (Tate McRae, Ravyn Lenae) is in. Shake is a multihyphenate singer-songwriter-rapper, however right here she leans towards the previous two, changing many of the rap with ballads and orchestral pomp.
These are all anticipated strikes from an artist coming off her first Prime 40 hit and possibly wanting extra, but it’d be an actual stretch to name Petrichor a pop album. Her distinctive sound remains to be right here, notably the elements inherited from My Stunning Darkish Twisted Fantasy: the proggy distorted preparations, the vocals processed and blown-out till they’re like sawblades in your face, the big anthems that aspire to enviornment rock. (Shake may aspire to enviornment rock much more than Ye, judging by how usually she reaches for guitar solos and gospel climaxes.) The paranoid rap tracks “Lungs” and “What’s Improper With Me” are virtually G.O.O.D. Music homages.
