Hi, everyone. Drythony Walltano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of the new Rochelle Jordan album, Through the Wall.

Here is the newest full-length LP from UK native, singer, songwriter, Ms. Rochelle Jordan. It's now just been over a decade since her debut, 1021, so she is not new to this at all. If this is your first Rochelle album, know you are hearing an artist who at this point is fully seasoned and formed. Nearly every track on this record ooozes focus, self-awareness, and experience, too. So much so that this record's hour-long run-time pretty much comes across as a seamless experience, as Rochelle and her collaborators deliver one chill, heady, sensual fusion of house and RnB and soul after another.

When I'm talking house, I'm talking deep house. This strain of the genre, this vibe, is really in the water right now, as we've heard some mutant explorations of it on the new Tyler, the Creator album, Don't Tap the Glass. More cynical, dismissive listeners might hear what this album is doing on a surface level and dismiss it as some fast fashion, dressing room at the mall fodder. To be real, yes, it is true. This music has been co-opted to the point where many of its latest participants are simply creating nothing but a capitalism facilitation soundtrack, one that has very little to do with the magic that old-school Chicago DJs such as Frankie Knuckles used to showcase to get the dance floor lit up back in the day.

But Rochelle Jordan has also been dabbling in this sound now for years, progressively making the shift from chill, somewhat left field RnB artist who pulled a lot of influence from Aaliyah as well as Beyoncé, to what you are hearing now on Through the Wall, which again is this nonstop string of subtle, heady, classy dance jams that are C-U-N-T-Y with a capital C-U-N-T-Y.

Because again, what Rochelle is doing with these sounds is not simply a bland, boring, pale imitation. It is the real deal. You really catch that in the specifics of these tracks, like in the way she describes her come up and artistic progression over the years that she's been doing this on the song "Ladida", or with the song "Never" which is really like a play by play of different arguments and tensions that seem to be throwing off balance a relationship that she's singing about on this track.

We also have "Eyes Shut", too, which is about existing through this increasingly numbing cycle of dopamine rushes, as well as quick fixes in an age of phone screens and shallow connections. A song that I really like the idea of, but the execution does leave a little to be desired as I feel like she just scratches the surface of this topic, ironically.

But also in addition to many of the lyrical details on these tracks, we have many vocal performances that aren't just simply wallpaper, actually beautiful and engaging and impressive. Sure, while many of Rochelle's vocal lines on this thing are quite subtle and breathy, they're also very alluring, too, like on "Bite the Bait", which is an intensely sexy and expressive cut about capturing some guy she's into like he's a wild animal she's on the hunt for. We also have the song "Close 2 Me", which displays a much bolder approach vocally as well, one that is pretty anthemic and soul-inspired.

There's also the matter of the choruses on this record, which, despite many of them coming across as very quiet, actually pop. Rochelle and her collaborators on this record aren't just merely conjuring and curating vibes across these tracks. They're actually working on structured songs that contain great production, cool details, and memorable moments. And speaking of the production, there actually are quite a few production highlights across this project, too, like on the song "Get It Off", which, surprise surprise, is a bit like a Pharrell-flaved 2000s club banger, but smoothed out in such a way to where it fits in really snuggly among all the other tracks on this project. There's also some which has a bit of a tropical element to it, and I also love a lot of the group of vocal chant type passages toward the end of the song.

"Crave" really stands out to my because of its saturated warm entrancing cords and beats. It is the definition of heavenly. Even though I think the song "On 2 Something" could have been a little bit longer, I'm going insane over the fact that this track sounds like what you would get if you took a nasty, hard-hitting twerk anthem with rubbery bass and persistent collapse, but made it sound like it was happening in a dream.

Also another surprise, the song "Sweet Sensation" features production from none other than DāM FunK, which Rochelle knows ball to be getting DāM FunK on this project. It is a glistening synth funk number with some really killer synth baselines that are just totally his trademark, and her vocals sound gorgeous over them.

Now, if there are some issues that I have with the album, and I do think there are a few: the progression, the flow of this thing, I think is merely just okay. It feels less like a formal album and more like a pretty well-curated playlist. And while I do think the seamlessness provides a bit of an immersive sensation to the overall listening experience of the album, it also means that there's a lack of definition between some of these songs, so they do bleed into each other a bit.

I do wish the record overall had some more super standout, bold moments, which I know I'm maybe asking for a little bit too much or being a bit blasphemous, requesting that specifically. But I'm merely talking about maybe two or three more tracks that sounded as stand out and as passionate vocally as "Close 2 Me". That certainly would have been nice. It's either that or fleshing out a few of the songs in this tracklist that end a little abrupt.

But yeah, I do think the 16 songs and an intro on this project are maybe just a tad bit too bloated, and there is a better slightly trimmer album in the mix here. But still, as is, Through the Wall is a very impressive project and a very well put together tasteful homage to a style of dance music that is really getting put through the ringer right now. But thankfully, Rochelle here is actually doing it some justice, which is why I'm feeling a strong 7 on this one.

Anthony Fantano, Rochelle Jordan, Forever.