Rachel Platten – Waves (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 45:21 minutes | 531 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia
“Waves” is an new album from multi-platinum, award winning pop star Rachel Platten. “Waves” is the follow up to Rachel’s Gold-certified major label debut album “Wildfire”, which was released in January of 2016. The first song and video released from the Waves album was “Broken Glass”, a track TIME raved is “another sharply produced pop jam”, and USA Today hailed as “a shimmering dance track”. That song was followed is “Perfect For You” a brightly honest yet hopeful track Rachel wrote about every day insecurities she still faces. Waves is a collection of emotive and reflective pop songs, all presented in Rachel Platten’s uniquely inspired way.
“Fight Song” made Rachel Platten’s career but its omnipresence in 2016 — it was everywhere, playing starring roles in ads for Ford and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign — put the singer/songwriter in an inspirational box. Platten attempts to break out of such well-meaning constrictions on Waves, a glitzy, stylized attempt to please every conceivable modern pop audience. While “Fight Song” echoes through Waves — it’s heard within the theme of the aspirational anthem “Broken Glass” and in the melody of “Loose Ends” — Platten is intent on proving that she’s not just a winsome singer/songwriter. She’ll deliver a stately ballad when she needs to — the austere “Hands” and the solemn closer “Grace” — but spends more time ratcheting up EDM rhythms and sliding into neon-streaked club tunes. The emphasis on the latter — the album opens up with the de facto Madonna tribute “Perfect for You” and peaks with “Shivers,” a dead ringer for Ellie Goulding — winds up illustrating how Platten is a malleable vocal presence, adaptable to many different styles without quite imprinting the sounds with her own personality. That’s not really a detriment, as such producers as Ryan Tedder and Stargate put her inherent flexibility to good use. Everybody involved is determined to give the album a steely, professional sheen and they succeed, turning Waves into a record that provides a definitive break from “Fight Song.” ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist:
01 – Perfect For You
02 – Whole Heart
03 – Collide
04 – Keep Up
05 – Broken Glass
06 – Shivers
07 – Loose Ends
08 – Labels
09 – Loveback
10 – Hands
11 – Fooling You
12 – Good Life
13 – Grace
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