Joyride

Tinashe and her fans were kept waiting a frustratingly long time for Joyride, but perhaps it was this extra time that gave her the opportunity to craft the album into the sensual, star-ridden offering she’s released.

Nothing here is bound to pass "2 On" in terms of popularity, but the highlights are filled with rich details and seductive hooks, heard at full power on the slow jams "He Don't Want It" and "No Contest." The smoldering, slightly bluesy "Salt" and sweetly aching piano ballad "Fires and Flames"--two additional highlights--invalidate all claims that Tinashe is one-dimensional.

The goodies are hidden in the deeper tracks. The Hit-Boy-produced title track starts with a vocal siren, and the singer struts through her haunting lower octave over a high-octane stomp.

Tinashe's Joyride is a stop-start journey that doesn't quite stall out, but does feel like some ground has been lost. It does move, however, and it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

The artistry of her voice lies in those moments of versatility and charisma, but they’re too isolated across Joyride to land with the kind of impact they deserve.

Vocally, Tinashe is probably more musically adept than half of the artists she emulates. But she won't truly carve out her own space until she figures out who she is.

The deeper cuts boast a little more personality. You don’t expect too many sonic innovations from a record this mainstream, but the creaking chair beat on standout track Ooh La La is a welcome curveball, as is Salt, an almost bluesy track that showcases Tinashe’s huskier register.

Given its gestation period, it’s hard to not feel a little disappointed with Joyride, where, in a painful irony, there are just too many “album tracks”. Instead, it might work best with its highlights scattered across a bedroom playlist.

While Joyride has its shining points and attempts to remain true to a cohesive, moodier (albeit more mature) tone, it’s missing the strong, catchier elements that helped Tinashe rise in the first place. But there’s no reason to count her out just yet.

Joyride feels like an album that has had anything adventurous about it focussed-grouped away and its hints at conceptual ambition are quickly abandoned after the opening two tracks for run-of-the-mill R&B. Tinashe is a good singer and a great performer, with the looks and work-ethic to be a star, but she sounds bored on this album.

Tinashe draws on her R&B influences to greater effect with the sensual, Dilemma-sampling Ooh La La, and No Contest is another highlight, but overall Joyride does not deliver on its potential.