One would probably be lying if they claimed that they have never listened to Victoria Monét before.
Monét first got her start writing demos for other artists, working closely with Kendrick Lamar, Fifth Harmony and, most notably, her close friend Ariana Grande. From there, Monét’s influence only continued to grow, slowly coming into her own and releasing her own projects. Her most recent project, “Jaguar II,” landed Monét seven Grammy nominations, taking home three Grammys for Best R&B Album, Best New Artist and Best Engineered Album Non-Classical, becoming the first black woman in Grammy history to win in the category.
Coming fresh off accompanying Bruno Mars on his sold out world tour, Monét officially announced her highly anticipated second studio album “Frequency of Love,” officially released Oct. 2. Standing at a whopping 22 songs long, Victoria Monét delivers over an hour of smooth, easy listening interspersed with high energy tracks with harmonies that could make the best choir in the world jealous. Additionally, Monét brings forward several extremely prominent features such as SZA and Bruno Mars while continuing her trend of vulnerability in her music as she incorporates her daughter Hazel into the album, emphasizing her love for her.
“Come Back to You,” the second track of the album, unveils the sheer love she holds for her daughter and highlights the sacrifices that come with being a working mother. She starts the song exchanging “I miss you” with her daughter before going into the first verse explaining how she continues to strive for more while working as hard as she can to be able to provide for her. However, Monét highlights how much of a struggle this is for her, as she wishes to provide for her daughter everything she’s ever dreamed of, yet the second she leaves all she can think of is how much she misses her daughter. Although her daughter is provided for is it worth the cost of missing the important moments in her life? It’s a struggle Monét still hasn’t found the answer to, but coming home to her daughter always makes it worth it for her.
On the flip side, Monét makes it clear to the world that despite having an abundance of love to give to the world, she’s also always down for a wild ride. There are a couple songs on the album that highlight this, but none more so than “Almost,” a song completely dedicated to how badly Monét needs to get laid. Complete with heavenly harmonies and explicit lyrics, Monét holds absolutely nothing back as she pleads for her partner, stating the sex was so good it “almost doesn’t count.” It’s cheeky and fun, but still holds incredible production value and demonstrates just how intentional Monét is with her music, even when the song itself isn’t as “serious” as other tracks on the record.
The vulnerability and openness in which Monét speaks about love, in all forms, combined with her incredible production and lyricism, leave the audience wishing the album could be even longer. “Frequency of Love” is an absolute smash hit, and definitely not something you should pass up on.
