Bunny Schaaf | Staff Writer
March 9, 2023
Kali Uchis’ latest release, “Red Moon In Venus,” is an album saturated in honey-sweet and groovy ballads about love, lust and romance.
“The whole project is about love,” Uchis said in an interview with Vogue.
A departure from her 2020 album, “Sin Miedo,” her ethereal sound remains, but the lyrics have become lusher and the beats softer.
Originally, Uchis made her entrance to the music industry via mix tape, “Drunken Babble,” in 2012, but later gained enough traction for her EP album in 2015.
The dreaminess she has offered since her debut continues to an elevated degree in 2023.
The first and most-popular song on the album is “I Wish you Roses.” It sets the stage and tone for the album, with Uchis’ confident delivery as she reflects on a relationship she lost but doesn’t grieve.
The bitterness of her hurt and heartache is delivered by stable, delicate vocals. Uchis oozes confidence in herself and her love in this song, as well as throughout the rest of the album.
“I was a rose in the garden of weeds,” she draws out. “My petals are soft and silk as my sheets, so do not be afraid to get pricked by the thorn.”
Some of the most standout tracks are “All Mine,” “Moral Conscience,” “Blue” and one of three features on the record, “Fantasy,” featuring Don Toliver.
“All Mine” is a doting, romantic piece that asserts Uchis’ love through her adoration. A world where nothing but her and her muse exist.
It’s a song about commitment and romantic ownership, delivered with a mystical R&B backing track.
“Fantasy,” features hip-hop influenced Toliver, known best for his 2020 debut album, “Heaven Or Hell.”
This song focuses on the lust of love, with Uchis wanting to be worshiped by her partner. Toliver’s hip hop, R&B feature compliments Uchis, without distracting from her unique and sultry vocals.
In the final parts of the album, the tracks become more somber while still maintaining the hyper-feminine fantasy that Uchis has constructed with the album.
“Moral Conscience” is the vindictive sister to “I Wish you Roses,” wishing karmic justice in return for the hurt she experienced from a lost love and a broken heart.
This song definitely leans more towards R&B musically, demonstrating her fringe style.
“Blue” is audibly colder than the rest of the record, which is full of warm tones and more traditional love song sentiments.
“Blue” incorporates the sad side of love, where “Moral Conscience” focuses on anger.
“What’s the point of all the pretty things in the world if I don’t have you?” Uchis asks, her delivery almost desperate.
“Red Moon In Venus” is a successful thesis on love, tackling sensuality, loss and being in love with relatable maturity and refinement.
Uchis’ growth since her debut in 2015 is incredibly obvious here: the entire album presents her in the spotlight while still maintaining a groovy, easy-listening sound.
“It’s more based around love, all the different signs and elements of love. Self-love, lost love, trying to call love into your life,” Uchis told Vogue.
“The other songs on the album are mostly very soft and very down tempo and back to my roots, the type of music when I did my first project.”
Uchis plans to release a wholly Spanish album at the end of the year, which will be a departure from the emotional side of the Colombian-American artist displayed in this spring release.
The second installment of the dual-album project has yet to be titled and has not been given a formal release date.