Aquarius
Contemporary R&B is enjoying an embarrassment of riches, with innovative albums by FKA Twigs, Banks, and Kelela stretching the genre\'s boundaries. Tinashe\'s debut raises the bar yet again. Building on the momentum of the roiling summer jam \"2 On,\" *Aquarius* features a who\'s-who of names, from R&B iconoclasts like Blood Orange\'s Dev Hynes to bankable pop pros like Stargate. \"How Many Times\" is a throwback slow jam enlivened by Future\'s staccato vocals, while \"Pretend\" out-Drakes Drake with its liquid production and earworm hook. Tinashe remains the star of the show, cooing, rapping, and ruminating (via several interludes). It\'s one of the year\'s most adventurous pop records.
Aquarius is the major label debut of Los Angeles R&B singer/songwriter Tinashe, after a string of buzz-building mixtapes and the summer-smash "2 On". The album is an anomaly in an age of major label standardization: a debut done unmistakably on Tinashe’s own terms. Clams Casino, Dev Hynes, Future, A$AP Rocky, and others contribute.
A showbiz kid by the age of three, Tinashe Kachingwe established her acting career in the 2000s, during which she had a recurring feature on the sitcom Two and a Half Men.
While song titles like "All Hands on Deck," "Cold Sweat" and "The Storm" sound more like buzzwords for a sea foraging adventure, these water-inspired motifs add cohesiveness and help entice listeners on R&B singer/songwriter Tinashe's solid debut, Aquarius.
From the first syncopated finger snap, it’s clear Aquarius is a direct descendent of ’90s-era Janet Jackson.
Tinashe Kachingwe’s influences range from 1990s soul to latterday R&B minimalism, and there’s plenty to be intrigued by here, writes <strong>Caroline Sullivan</strong>