Fans have been waiting a long, long time for Tinashe’s second album, but if they thought their two-and-a-half year wait was difficult, it was nothing on Tinashe’s. ‘Joyride’ was first announced in 2015, but was then delayed, as her label allegedly chose to focus on 1D usurper Zayn Malik’s music – something Tinashe revealed she was less than impressed with. This frustration led to her leaking her own track ‘Party Favors’, and then dropping ‘Nightride’ 2016; but now, almost three years since the first trailer was released on YouTube, ‘Joyride’ is finally here in its entirety. Was it worth the wait? Mainly, yes.
Boasting a plethora of famous pals, and a handful of absolute club bops, ‘Joyride’ is brilliantly good fun. Little Dragon collaboration ‘Stuck With Me’ is a tropical delight, and ‘Ain’t Good for Ya’ is the flute jam you never knew you needed. Yes there are lulls: lead single ‘No Drama’, a team-up with nouveau-rap royalty Offset, can clunk along; and the less said about ‘Ooh La La’ – which features the constant grate of bed springs – the better. But where there are lulls, there are also towering highs.
Steamy Future collab ‘Faded Love’ is a club-ready hit, with his braggadocio so brazen it goes past the point of ridicule to being totally convincing (lyrical highlights include the Pulitzer-worthy “Imma find your G-spot like you dropped your location.”) ‘Salt’, too, is sizzling, with Tinashe’s silky vocals hovering over a sultry bass line and sparse whirring electronics. The stripped-back and shimmering ballad ‘Fires and Flames’ soars. 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.
