Tinashe - Popstar

Tinashe —

Popstar

Album Review

Finally! Today is September 25th, and we finally get Popstar. It feels like we’ve been waiting forever and a day, but the time is finally here. I’ve listened, I’ve processed, and now it’s time to get into my thoughts.

Sunglasses

A bit of a chaotic sound for an album opener. It felt a little all over the place to me, and honestly, I was eager to get to the next song.

TOO EASY

The bonafide, undeniable hit. I love this song and played it all summer. Love the video, love the song, there’s nothing else to say.

Melatonin

Another HIT. I intentionally didn’t listen to this one much before the album dropped. I felt like she was releasing too many singles, and I wanted to “save” some of the delight for the actual album experience. I’m glad I did. This is really one to go to the club to.

Empty Stadium

Very vulnerable. Very Tinashe. I instantly loved it on the first listen. It feels like Tightrope’s cousin, and I LOVE Tightrope, so that’s definitely a compliment.

Flashbacks

The cadence on this song is something only Tinashe can give. It sounds extremely pleasing while still feeling completely unique. She has such a distinct way of approaching a song that it doesn’t sound quite like anything else by the artists people might try to categorize her with.

Overdramatic

Interlude.

I’d Rather Be Alone

A wonderful, relatable ballad that fits perfectly on this album. It’s vulnerable without feeling overdone, and I especially love the bass coming in as the song moves into the chorus. I also really love its placement on the album. I would love to see her put a visual and choreography behind this one.

CRASH OUT

Gotta be the best beat I’ve heard this year! 10 stars. Song of the summer!

There are so many damn quotables in just that first verse alone. My favorite has to be:

“Can’t take that bait they offering”

Yeah. She ate that.

Pillow Fight

It’s not good, it’s not bad. It just…exists.

She said she recorded 100–150 songs for this project, and honestly, I might’ve liked to hear one of those other songs in this spot. This is probably the one track where I find myself thinking about what could have been here instead.

Nobody Wanna Dance No More

A genre-bending earworm. It’s giving pop/country/R&B in a way that sounds like something you’d hear playing in an alien bar on Mars. And somehow, it works.

Twentyfive Eight

A motivational grind song, and I love the message. Especially:

“There’s more to you than what you achieve.”

That line really hits. A nice shift in perspective and a meaningful addition to the album.

The Show Must Go On

This should have been the album opener.

Then Popstar, the title track, should have been track two.

It feels like a crime to me that these two songs don’t start the album. The way those songs could have introduced the entire Popstar era? Whew. I would have loved that.

Popstar

I expected this song to be more uptempo, so it wasn’t exactly what I anticipated from the title. But honestly? It’s definitely one of my favorites on the album.

I’ve already played it at least 10 times.

Brain Rot

A fun song with a message about fake love. I really like this one. It feels worthy of being on the album and adds another flavor to the overall project.

Cloud 9

It fits. It works. It just isn’t one of my favorites on the album.

Heavy Weight

Loved it on the first listen.

I love those vulnerable Tinashe ballads, and this is a beautiful way to close the album. It’s very pretty, emotional, and feels like an appropriate ending to the journey.

Overall

Overall, I really like this album from Tinashe, and I can already tell it’s going to be in my regular rotation.

The artwork is perfect. I love the glasses, I love the aesthetic, and I love the overall vibe she created around this era. Once again, Tinashe has delivered a cohesive project that feels like her.

And once again, my girl proves why she operates in a different stratosphere than her peers.

My only real gripe is the sequencing. I really wish The Show Must Go On and Popstar had opened the album. Those two tracks back-to-back would have made such a statement.

But outside of that? This is a very enjoyable musical buffet. There’s a little bit of everything here to satisfy all of my cravings — vulnerability, bops, experimentation, motivation, club records, earworms, and some good old-fashioned Tinashe weirdness.

Welcome to the Popstar era.