Alone At Prom

The Canadian singer’s third release of 2021 does what it says on the tin: This is music best-heard in a gymnasium beneath streamers and a disco ball (puffy sleeves and Aqua Net hairspray not required but recommended). Lanez pulls no punches when it comes to *Alone at Prom*’s ’80s theme, crooning ballads of broken hearts and speeding cars over productions that wouldn’t sound out of place in a John Hughes movie soundtrack, with song titles that ought to be written out in neon (“Pink Dolphin Sunset,” “Last Kiss of Nebulon”). The electro pulse and nihilist bent of night-drive anthems like “The Color Violet” may remind you, not so subtly, of a different R&B auteur from the Great White North (hint: it’s not The Weekday…), but hey, it’s just another excuse to wear your sunglasses at night.