RY RY WORLD

Mariah the Scientist\'s music traffics in a beatific, futuristic sound that envelops the ear. On *RY RY WORLD*, it feels a little like floating despite subject matter that is more often concerned with the ways in which love can make us feel so heavy. “I can be what you need, maybe more, everything,” she sings on single “Aura.” “Maybe you\'ll come to your senses, I\'ll use up my minutes to tell you how I believe you are a rainbow.” Her lyrics are vulnerable and unafraid to deal with the humiliation of unrequited feelings or the lust for revenge when it all goes bad, but her vocals and sonic palette keep her sound enchantingly atmospheric. Songs like “RIP” and “All for Me” accentuate the unique tonality of her voice, a delicate yet full-bodied quality as intriguing as it is pretty. Elsewhere, her experimental streak is revealed in the production choices on tracks like the off-kilter intro “Impalas & Air Force 1s” and the stuttering loop of “2 You.” Mariah the Scientist may be just getting started—this marks only her second album—but her vision of R&B is already reimagining the genre\'s possibilities.

The 23-year-old singer’s careful observations add new profundity to her storytelling. Her second album confirms her place as one of modern R&B’s realest talkers.