Review: Loreen exposes everything on new ‘Nude’ EP
She finally makes her long-awaited return.
2017 is the year of the comeback: Kesha. P!nk. Aly & AJ. Now, you can add Loreen ⎯⎯ who first struck it big in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest (for the blissful “Euphoria” club track) ⎯⎯ to that impressive lineup. After pushing back her sophomore album and changing labels, the singer (who possesses such a velvet-smooth, intoxicating voice that washes over you, gentle but fervent) recently issued her long-awaited new EP called Nude. Sure, it’s tragically short at only three tracks, two of which were released well-ahead of the project drop.
Loreen first scatters her “Body” on the dance floor, allowing yourself to inhale deeply a snow globe of dirty, R&B-flecked glitter. The house-y Elliphant-assisted “Jungle” slogs along at a tepid pace, even if she does sound keenly aware of her sexual energy and dishes up an intense, slicked-back vocal. “Yeah, just lift the phone up / I’ll be around, yeah, I’ll be around / Time to rip up all your clothes now / I rip up your clothes,” she coos, nearly whispering what’s she gonna do to you into your ear, Nicole Scherzinger-style. “Ocean Way,” then, is the most interesting entry of the bunch, a tribal-like groove sending echoes throughout the production. “Rise above, above the noise in my head / Yeah, I talk too loud / So loud I can’t hear myself / Yeah, I coming near, put me in order / The way you can hear, I play the fool yes,” she reflects, the waves of pain of heartbreak invading your headspace, too. Loreen has a way of knocking you to your feet, and when tasked with her more incisive lyrics, you may never recover.
The Nude EP is not nearly as fun and flirty, though, as Loreen’s debut, 2012’s Heal (exhibit A: “My Heart is Refusing Me”). But it does serve as a tasty in-between to satisfying fans’ aching hunger. She can only go up from here. Her long-awaited follow-up is expected in November.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5
Nude EP is out now on iTunes, and you can spin it below, via Spotify:
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