Tinashe’s Freak is Unmatchable on ‘Quantum Child’

Let’s be trustworthy right here: how may anyone match Tinashe’s freak? Ten years after turning heads together with her glorious debut Aquarius, and the smash “2 On,” Tinashe is hitting new peaks this yr. “Nasty” was one of the indelible hits of summer time 2024—a pop summer time that was not precisely skimpy on indelible hits. Together with her deep-chill voice and the Ricky Reed/Zack Sekoff manufacturing, Tinashe obtained everybody strolling round for months with the hook “I’ve been a nasty lady” caught in our heads. She’s no rookie within the freak sport, however Quantum Child proves she’s nonetheless exploring new sides of her artistry, displaying off her adventurous type of other R&B. 

“Nasty” received Tinashe a complete new viewers that’s simply now catching up together with her crazy-underrated mid-2010s gems like Nightride and Joyride. However she actually hit her stride in her slept-on run of wonderful indie albums prior to now 5 years—Music for You, 333, and BB/Ang3l, going her personal approach creatively. Quantum Child is the second chapter in a trilogy that she started final yr with BB/Ang3l, with the theme of grownup self-discovery. “Classes I’ve discovered?” she asks within the opener “No Simulation.” “I feel the reply is simply to go deeper.”

Quantum Child builds on “Nasty” with moody electric-blue pop and sultry different R&B, held collectively by Tinashe’s ineffable cool. The album is brief and candy, 8 songs in simply 22 minutes, however it goes locations. Her voice floats over the over the stylistic back-and-forth of the beats, weaving between evocative EDM-style beats and straight-up pop choruses. “Getting No Sleep” is an excellent ode to a misplaced intercourse weekend, with Tinashe holding court docket over fierce drum-and-bass beats, with spikes of abrasive disco strings.

The sound is discreet but evocative, as Tinashe retains lingering on the brink between impulsive erotic craving and full-immersion all-in romance. She sums up the stress in “Cross That Line,” her voice seething over minimal finger-snaps and snippets of jungle percussion, as she muses, “You may be the love of my life, I’m able to cross that line,” rhyming “all in” with “fallin’.” However the confidence in her voice by no means appears to falter. “No person actually will get over me,” she boasts in “No Broke Boys,” letting the brand new man know he’s simply one other groupie to her. “Nasty” is the spotlight—however how wouldn’t it not be? Quantum Child doesn’t overstay its welcome, however it flaunts Tinashe’s charisma as an independent-minded artist—one of the unmatchable freaks within the sport.