 Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Moderators, Registered Joined: 11/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 9,033   Thanks: 5178 times
Was thanked: 7399 time(s) in 2464 post(s)
|
Pain, depression, anxiety, triumph & freedom - just some of the many topics that appear over the course of Vanity's sudden return for her thirteenth studio album, Raver Princess Warrior. Her first album release in over 5 years, since the chart-topping Dominant saw an empowered Vanity storm the charts with a record full of her classic radio-ready hits and experimental electronic pop. This time round, Vanity moves heavier into EDM, embracing genres such as the nostalgic sounds of house music, pairing these hard-hitting, uplifting sounding beats with dark lyrics painting a picture of her past anguish and torment. The contrasting pair makes for an interesting record full of crying-on-the-dancefloor bangers.
From the album's opening track, her hard-hitting comeback single “Shock to the System”, the opening synths start the album off full steam ahead, before transitioning into the uptempo “Underground”, a track that longs for the reopening of clubs for its beauty to really shine, the underlying themes of suicide making it a bittersweet track for such a dance anthem. The record's title track follows and gives listeners a breather with a lighter lyrical theme, showing Vanity in a much more grateful, triumphant fashion as she shows her appreciation for her loyal fanbase, with lines such as “I'm the dancefloor's daughter / I'm your raver princess warrior,” and “I dance cause it makes you proud”, it's a touching, upbeat ode to her following for helping her to get through her struggles.
Continuing the lighter theme, Vanity shows a more playful side to her with “Getting You Off”, using the term “getting off” in both ways in the track's cheeky chorus, it's one of the more fun tracks on the record and serves as a welcome reminder that Vanity isn't all serious, serving some less emotional lyrics which some will be grateful for, enjoying these tracks as simple, enjoyable escapism. On “Encrypted Heart”, Vanity's first number one single this decade and her first since her comeback, we see it almost as a response to the album's vulnerable first single “Shock to the System”, instead this time we see her in a more empowered, confident light, guarding herself from her abuser and breaking free.
Moving back into darkness with “Shadow Magnet”, Vanity's raw lyrics detail her fight with depression, longing to enjoy herself when she's in a social setting and pushing away those who try to get close, for fear she'll drag them down with her into her downward spiral. In following track “Your Mark”, Vanity dives deeper into detail on her abuse in perhaps the most honest way yet on the record, though instead showing courage and strength rather than surrendering to her situation as she sings directly to her abuser that she won't stop trying to escape him until his mark's off her, pairing the words to a rumbling synth beat. “Heart Attack” almost acts as a part two with similar lyrical themes of running free, an even more uptempo beat pairs to the song's lyrics to match the fast-paced scene that the lyrics paint into the listener's head, frantic, desperate and urgent to break free.
A quirky, more sexual addition to the record follows with the unusual “Kimono”, sonically paired well with the record, though a little slower than the previous few tracks. “I'm a woman of the world / And you've got travel plans / But you don't need a trip to Japan to get familiar with my land,” Vanity sings in a slightly lower register, sounding husky and seductive as she displays once again a more light-hearted, playful side to her brand of pop music. It might not follow the album's typical themes, but it works great as a refresher near the end of the record. Ending on an uplifting, positive note, “Change the World” once again explores new lyrical territories, as we hear Vanity at perhaps her most political yet, addressing the state of the world and climate change, “Gather restless souls / We're gonna change the world,” Vanity sings with a chanting choir behind her in the track's final chorus, showing that despite current affairs, Vanity remains an optimist. It's a statement track that really rounds the album off well, ending on a positive note.
Rounding the album off in such a way only emphasises the rollercoaster ride that is Raver Princess Warrior, an album documenting Vanity's lowest lows, but her ultimate rise out of the darkness into a future full of positivity, light and hope. Many of the tracks show that Vanity hasn't let her past define her or break her spirit in any way, and while she may have been temporarily knocked down, abandoning her following for several years to heal, the pop superstar is back and even more resilient than before.
Giving just a brief explanation of Raver Princess Warrior, Vanity states, “This record is truly a defining album for me, to release it at the tail-end of this awful year, I can only hope it helps lighten the tone of these past 12 months for my fans just a little bit, and we can come out of it into the new year feeling energised and optimistic about where we're going. It's such a special, personal album to me, I wrote every track in a much more straight-forward, raw way than perhaps ever before and I hope that gives you a little insight into what I've been dealing with since I've been gone. If you can relate to these themes in any way, I hope the album serves as a comfort to you, that time heals, you will regain your power and we can have fun in the meantime while doing that, that's all I wanted this album to say.”
 |
  ACTIVE: Vanity x Nadia Berry |
 10 users thanked GirlSpice for this useful post.
|
|
