Light, lively and beautiful.
Empress Of’s new album, Dream House, is ethereal, ephemeral and enigmatic. Within the span of 29 minutes, Empress Of’s Lorely Rodriguez pulls listeners into such a beautiful world that the goodbye just a short time later borders on painful.
The opening track, “Wild Storm,” sets the tone with harmonious vocals and strings. A gorgeous symphony interlude eases the song out as the second track, “Blue Light,” begins. This is where the album really finds its footing. Featuring Blood Orange, a recurring collaboration for both artists, the song feels tried and true. Both artists have an affinity for synthesis in their work, so their collaborations feel like a match made in harmonious heaven. “Blue Light” is no different. Both parties wrote on the track, and Rodriguez co-produced it with collaborator Romil Hemnani. The song is earnest and comfortable in its uncertainties as Rodriguez sings “I just wanna feel myself / even if I’m losing everybody else.”
The following track is a 42-second snippet of a conversation detailing plans for a new building under construction, set over a simple piano score. In an album where melodic singing has such emphasis, it’s a wonder this entry works, and yet it does. “We Have Walls” offers an intimate look into the artist’s life. It’s a vulnerability that cannot be replicated in a retelling of the event, even if it’s simply showing something as mundane as construction planning. In a way, it’s representative of the album as a whole. The interlude states that the inspectors are all talking about one woman, the head of the construction, the person speaking. As she continues speaking, it becomes easy to imagine her as Rodriguez. She’s assembling the album, building it up, supporting the construction with the first two songs, then segueing into the strong body of the next eleven. This spoken-word tone returns with a more synthetic flair in “I’m Always Home With You.”
As soon as the soft piano of the prior song concludes, “SYW” starts booming. Featuring Cecile Believe, the track is, at this point, the most danceable tune on the project. Intense percussion with lots of snares and heavy production bounce from ear to ear, almost as if each beat is pulling you closer to the dance floor. This trend continues with “I Pray 4 U.” Though the title might suggest a less upbeat tune, the track is anything but. A quick beat carries listeners through the track, making its three-minute runtime feel like seconds.
Track eight, “Waiting,” is the only weak point in an otherwise rock-solid album. While not necessarily a bad song, it doesn’t stand up to the level of its predecessors, nor does it withstand the power of its successors. Rodriguez’s vocals seem less confident than usual, and without them, the whole song suffers the loss.
Although the following track, “Machete,” takes a moment to rebuild the momentum that Rodriguez has been accumulating, once it’s there, it’s there to stay. Her characteristic confidence comes back into the spotlight as she sings “I’m turning water into wine / and I know that you’ll be thirstin’.”
As she sings in the following song, “HandsOn,” the rest of the album goes until the wheels come off. “Nunca Tuve Miedo” reintroduces the spoken-word songs, but this time it’s not only in Spanish; it also has an electronic production that fades effortlessly into the next track. “Trainsong” has you humming along to the infectious chorus before it’s even finished.
The final song and title track, “Dream House,” sends listeners off with a sweet farewell. As Rodriguez sings about building a dream house, you can’t help but think she’s already built a dream album.
