Review: Tinashe - Aquarius
By Alainna Marincic, Contributor
[RCA; 2014]
Rating: 7.5/10
Key Tracks: “Bet," “Cold Sweat,” “All Hands on Deck”
In a trailer for Aquarius, Tinashe’s debut album, Tinashe states that she has “been preparing, waiting.” She’s not very clear on what, but the album itself makes that clear: fame.
Tinashe, full name Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe, is ambitious; she always has been. Starting in showbiz at the age of three, Tinashe has acted in numerous TV shows and movies, performed with the girl group The Stunners and released three self-produced mixtapes all before the age of 20. Now at 21, Tinashe releases her first studio album with buzzy single “2 On” featuring Schoolboy Q, a collection of talented producers and a surprising amount of artistic freedom.
With the goal of fame, Tinashe succeeds in making an album completely different than most anything in the R&B landscape. One could compare her to alternative R&B or PBR&R (punk blues rock ‘n’ roll) artists like Jhene Aiko or The Weeknd, or major pop divas like Beyonce or Ciara.
In the title track, Tinashe beckons you to listen to her new sound. She is bold enough to call it “The dawn of a new era”. “Aquarius” is a slow sensual jam filled with falsetto, a classic that throws back to Aaliyah and Janet Jackson.
Those two influences are even more noticeable with the next two tracks, the best on the album, “Bet” featuring Devonte Hynes and “Cold Sweat.” The former is also produced by Hynes, better known as Blood Orange, and is spooky and ethereal, yet aggressive and heavily features her contralto range. It also features one of the sickest guitar solos, courtesy of Hynes.
“Cold Sweat” is the song that correlates the most with the ambition of fame and thus is the backbone of Aquarius. The ending rap verse is a barrage of all the anxieties Tinashe is facing because of her newfound fame. As the song that represents her ambition, it showcases her tremendous talent in a restrained way. On the track she hits notes likely the highest and lowest in her range, but never seems too showboat-y or over the top like Mariah Carey or Ariana Grande would. The track also exhibits her rapping abilities, which she can add to her long list of talents.
Unlike most modern R&B albums, Aquarius only features two dance tracks, outlier and lead single “2 On” and “All Hands on Deck.” “All Hands on Deck” features a pan flute and is amazing. The pan flute is an extremely odd choice that works, a testament to her creative individuality; the choice comes from left field.
Tinashe has an extremely strong vision and the weakest tracks are the ones that reject this vision and her perfectionism. “Pretend” featuring A$AP Rocky is a boring song with an extremely weak guest verse from leader of A$AP Mob. In theory this should be a good matchup, but in reality the song is bland, especially compared to the bold, confident air of the rest of the album. “2 On” probably would have fallen to the same fate if DJ Mustard hadn't saved it with the stellar G-Funk beat.
Overall on Aquarius, Tinashe is unabashedly confident and ambitious but still restrained and nuanced. There is nothing else like her in R&B music right now. It’s spooky, sensual, aggressive, vulnerable and nonstop. On paper, Tinashe is begging to be compared to her peers and those who have come before her. However, upon listening to her album one realizes that her unique sound and artistic view is incomparable.
