Pitchfork STANS Demi's new album 'Tell Me You Love Me'

[Lion Heart 15,041]

On her sixth album, Demi Lovato finds a consistently compelling space: flinty, flirty R&B that’s just as thrilling hushed as it is at full blast.

...

Demi’s always taken to power ballads like a hammer to nails: the Unbroken standout “Skyscraper” was her first “adult” hit, and her career may have taken an entirely different shape had it not been launched by the legendary Camp Rock banger “This Is Me.” She’s never been scared of a booming vocal showcase in the Adele or Kelly Clarkson modes, and two of these showcases serve as early anchors on Tell Me You Love Me. The title track is a desperate plea for affection that gradually morphs into a declaration of self-love; “You Don’t Do It for Me Anymore” is even better, a soaring breakup anthem dedicated to Lovato’s old vices rather than an old flame. These are songs that seek to overcome you with sheer athleticism rather than construction or pacing. They’re impressive in isolation, but they also have the impact of a huge meal or a hard workout: it doesn’t take long to feel completely exhausted.

This is where Tell Me You Love Me improves on Lovato’s previous albums: It gives you enough space to see Demi as something other than a no-holds-barred belter. There’s a Kehlani-like jack-of-all-trades behind those pipes, an artist with can skilfully, successfully make hip-hop and R&B work in a pop context. Lead single “Sorry Not Sorry”—her biggest hit in nearly half a decade and climbing—is a defiant gospel-pop kiss-off that wouldn’t sound out of place in Chance the Rapper’s hands. When you listen to the album in full, the craft keeps coming. “Ruin the Friendship” smolders like something cut from CrazySexyCool; “Games” is studded with goofy, giddy ad-libs; the remarkable DJ Mustard-produced “Lonely” stuns without feeling remotely showy, growled F-bombs aside. (Lovato and Lil Wayne—poking his head in for a moody, warbling verse—make a surprisingly good team.) You can even start to hear the influence of Frank Ocean’s instant-classic Blonde trickling down into laid-back deep cuts like “Concentrate” and “Hitchhiker.”

The woman behind these songs knows herself well enough to rein in her most destructive impulses, but she still can’t help but take a series of romantic risks. Lovato isn’t precious about the bumps in her road, either: “Sexy Dirty Love” builds a pre-chorus around an extended addiction metaphor, and “Daddy Issues” is remarkably frothy for someone whose recent albums featured dramatic accounts of her relationship with her late, estranged father. (“Forget all the therapy that I’ve been through/Lucky for you, I’ve got all these daddy issues.” Fun!) She’s willing to throw away a perfectly good platonic relationship (“Ruin the Friendship”) and take an emotional leap with a stranger (“Hitchhiker”) because she knows she can always rely on herself. You want to get to know the Lovato behind Tell Me You Love Me, something you can’t definitively say about any of her other releases. It’s the first album she has made that captures the woman who stumped for Hillary Clinton and brushes off questions about her sexuality in all of her complicated and captivating glory.

FULL REVIEW https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/demi-lovato-tell-me-you-love-me/amp/

STREAM/ BUY THE ALBUM 

 

[Teal Ambition 47,805]

I stan too 

[Saint Hollywood 37,363]

[monsterdino 31,991]

it's a meh

I can't understand how pop artists like Demi release a mediocre album like this and they get high praise but if Gaga released the same album it would've been trashed

[Saint Hollywood 37,363]

3 minutes ago, monsterdino said:

it's a meh

I can't understand how pop artists like Demi release a mediocre album like this and they get high praise but if Gaga released the same album it would've been trashed

[monsterdino 31,991]

Just now, Saint Hollywood said:

it is

[Stephen 30,420]

12 minutes ago, monsterdino said:

it's a meh

I can't understand how pop artists like Demi release a mediocre album like this and they get high praise but if Gaga released the same album it would've been trashed

It's honestly true certain artists are held to a higher standard

[rumours 45,521]

14 minutes ago, monsterdino said:

it's a meh

I can't understand how pop artists like Demi release a mediocre album like this and they get high praise but if Gaga released the same album it would've been trashed

 

2 minutes ago, Steve Nasty said:

It's honestly true certain artists are held to a higher standard

 

[sipthistea 21,099]

4 minutes ago, Steve Nasty said:

It's honestly true certain artists are held to a higher standard

I was about to say the same thing 

Exactly. I think people and critics expect so much from Gaga because of her abilities to make a good record. 

[PeterPan 0]

34 minutes ago, sipthistea said:

I was about to say the same thing 

Exactly. I think people and critics expect so much from Gaga because of her abilities to make a good record. 

instead we got Joanne 

[PeterPan 0]

The reason why this is the best album of 2017

[GypsyBabe 22,836]

36 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

instead we were blessed with Joanne 

Fixed. 

[Evan Peters 10,735]

54 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

instead we got Joanne 

and the good sis continues to slay despite her annoying ass complainers 

[Lion Heart 15,041]

22 hours ago, PeterPan said:

instead we got Joanne