Renaissance

by 
AlbumAug 28 / 202014 songs, 46m 4s
Dance-Pop Contemporary R&B Future House
Popular

Many fans first met Aluna through AlunaGeorge, the London electronic duo she formed with George Reid. On *Renaissance*, the singer-songwriter and producer strikes out on her own with a collection of brightly hued electro-pop that bewitches as it evolves. From the outset, the album is nothing but bottled ecstasy. “I\'ve Been Starting to Love All the Things I Hate,” the opening track, is a triumphant blast of optimism in the face of adversity: “Throw it all out, it\'s a new day/Doesn\'t matter if you can\'t, do it anyway,” she urges in a honeyed voice. Thematically, many of the songs hinge on the ups and downs of romance, but it never feels like anything less than joy. What\'s most captivating about *Renaissance*, though, is the range Aluna displays across the album: She\'s nimble, as she inhabits just the right tone for whatever style of production lies before her. Whether nestled in the pulsating bass of splashy dance pop (“Warrior,” “Envious,” “Body Pump”), simmering trap-R&B (“Off Guard”), or the intoxicating diasporic sounds of dancehall (“Get Paid”), reggae (“Surrender”), and Afropop (“The Recipe,” “Pressure”), she injects her own soulful magic to charming effect, a gift that keeps on giving.

7.0 / 10

With her solo debut, AlunaGeorge’s Aluna Francis explores dance music in many forms—pop-house, dancehall, funk, Caribbean and African dance—as a personal refuge and an industry corrective.

Aluna’s singular vision is never in doubt.

Aluna Francis takes the chance to write, sing, and produce her way out of her constrictions -- none self-imposed -- with Renaissance, her first solo album. Over a period of nearly a decade with producer George Reid as one half of AlunaGeorge, Francis experienced tremendous success but was also marginalized, discredited, and mistreated, but she takes total control with a new platform provided by Diplo's Mad Decent label. Titled in allegiance with fellow black women creators making strides across artistic mediums, the album is a strong reaffirmation of Francis' stylistic elasticity. It covers even more territory than AlunaGeorge's preceding second album, I Remember, while coming across as more unified. Francis also challenges herself as a vocalist. On "Body Pump," a probing house collaboration with Jungle's J Lloyd, her voice is full of more grit than ever, equal parts frustration and elation as she breaks free with a belted and empowered refrain ripe for sampling. She isn't above exposing a weakness on "Envious," delivering "You know I'm cruel when I see red" with a pout -- and as a warning -- over rich disco-funk co-produced by Philip von Boch Scully.

8 / 10

As an artist the desire for change stirs from deep inside. You either choose to listen to it, or not, Aluna chose to listen. After the success of over one