Niki has had a fascinating journey to where she is now, including winning a contest to open for Taylor Swift at only 15 years old, moving to the United States from Indonesia to study music, and signing with the prominent hip hop and R&B label 88rising. After a couple really good EPs, a few loosies, and features on the label’s compilation projects, Niki was set for her official debut album, Moonchild.
Her process for Moonchild was different from her older projects, as she wanted this to be a concept album. But even aside from the prominent concept, her style completely switched for this project. Her older projects consisted of this accessible R&B sound, but she purposely wanted to avoid that. She even told NME that, “I was very much intentional in that I did not want to just make an airy R&B record. That’s not what I wanted to do.” Niki wanted to prove that she can’t be pigeonholed, and she succeeds.
This project can’t be forced into any type of genre, as there are plenty of different sounds on here. “Selene” has this minimal funk vibe with an impeccable baseline. The lead single “Switchblade” features some mechanical and maximalist production with this driving drumline that helps move the song along. She even raps on this project, something she has never done up to this point, including on the ever-transitioning “Tide”. Which leads us directly into the project itself, how does Moonchild stack up compared to her previous work?
Well, she comes through with arguably her most concise and thoughtful album yet. Moonchild feels like you’re listening to a film without the visuals. The transitional moments between songs help this out a lot. The aforementioned “Tide” is a great example of this. It was transitioned into perfectly from “Selene”, and the outro perfectly sets the vibe for the meditation on mental health that is “Pandemonium”.
The overall production also helps set the scene for the story, as everything feels a bit futuristic and spacey. Even with how many different genres that she tries out on here, there are still things that help make the album feel cohesive. For example, the songs “Plot Twist” and “Switchblade” both feature her using these robotic effects on her voice and these mechanical but somehow effervescent instrumentals. And considering those songs are on opposite sides of the album shows how much thought was put into the album as an entire experience. There are also cinematic strings in each of the three sections of the album that help tie the album together, including in the songs “Wide Open (Foreword)”, “Lose”, and “If There’s Nothing Left...”.
While the production is super spot on for this album, the lyrics are a bit plain at spots. There are moments of really great lyrics though. The lead single “Switchblade” is a fantastic beginning to the story, as it paints the picture of the character’s mindstate perfectly. “Pandemonium” contains the best lyrics of the entire project, as she talks about mental health and the overarching sadness of the younger generation. But songs like “Lose” and “Plot Twist” are a bit plain lyrically, as they’re both just about young love and don’t really provide a new or unique look at the topic.
The story itself isn’t quite as straightforward as it appears to be on the surface. There isn’t really a linear storyline as there is in other famous concept albums like Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid Maad City or Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Instead, it’s more like each phase is a different mindstate for our protagonist. There are hints of the linear storyline in the lyrics, like how she details the protagonist leaving her homeland into the unknown on the song “Switchblade”, but it’s not consistent throughout the entire album.
Even with the shortcomings, this is still a great debut album. For someone who was having great success with her previous work to just abandon that sound at the age 21 proves that she has the will to put out someone special. Even though this project didn’t end being the special one, it’s still extremely impressive for a debut album, and manages to create an extremely cohesive picture with the production. She proves that she can still make the individual songs catchy and memorable even outside of the concept. I’m sure she’ll continue to perfect her craft far in the future and continue to be a name to check for.
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