H.E.R. - Back of My Mind ALBUM REVIEW
I mean, I can’t wait for this to sweep the Grammys next year.
H.E.R. is an artist that I’ve always been championing casually. She’s a genuinely talented artist that seemingly came out of nowhere. The first song I heard of hers was “Best Part” with Daniel Caesar, where I had actually heard him first too. She reminded me quite a bit of Alicia Keys in the best way possible, and on top that, she is a fucking incredible guitarist. When her full-length debut, Back of My Mind, was officially announced, I was really excited for it. As the details came out about it, though, the music nerd that you usually see write on this site was a little concerned. This thing is 21 tracks, and while it is an R&B album and a little easier to digest, it’s still very long. The features, while there are a few interesting ones here, I would’ve loved to see at least one female collab on here. Ty Dolla $ign, Cordae, Lil Baby, Thundercat, Chris Brown, Yung Bleu, Bryson Tiller, and YG is a pretty stacked list, but what is DJ Khaled doing here? Outside of that, I was hoping that H.E.R. would have an identity here. Yes, I’ve loved her music, but hopefully this would be the album to set her apart from the crowd. Is Back of My Mind that project? Let’s find out.
There’s another aspect I have to point out about H.E.R. before getting into the music itself. She has had at least one Grammy nomination each year since 2019 and even a couple wins thrown in there too, and she’s popped up at many different festivals and awards shows in between. It’s very clear that she’s getting a major industry push, and I completely understand why. Hell, the first single for this “Slide” came out in September 2019. It’s a good song, no doubt, but this was a very messy rollout for someone with so much backing from the industry. For the album itself, though, I’m feeling very conflicted about it. There’s nothing about it terrible, but there really isn’t anything noteworthy to point out either. One thing I could point out is the instrumental of “Bloody Waters,” which was produced by KAYTRANADA and has contributions from Thundercat, and even if I really needed a vocal performance from him, I’ll take bassist-Thundercat any day of the week. Because of the length of this project, this feels like a bit of a chore to get through. This didn’t need to be that long at all. Also, there’s nearly not enough guitar on this, that docks a couple points from it.
As I stated earlier, I’m very conflicted on Back of My Mind. There’s little on this album that’s bad and H.E.R. showcases her talents as a vocalist on many of these songs, but these songs are so nondescript. It feels like H.E.R. is kissing at the feet of the label, or maybe the label is the reason why this feels so bloated. It’s also generic at some points too. H.E.R. still has a lot of fuel left in the tank, though, and while this album could’ve been so much more, we just need to know who she is soon.
6/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Back of My Mind is an RCA Records release.
H.E.R. is an artist that I’ve always been championing casually. She’s a genuinely talented artist that seemingly came out of nowhere. The first song I heard of hers was “Best Part” with Daniel Caesar, where I had actually heard him first too. She reminded me quite a bit of Alicia Keys in the best way possible, and on top that, she is a fucking incredible guitarist. When her full-length debut, Back of My Mind, was officially announced, I was really excited for it. As the details came out about it, though, the music nerd that you usually see write on this site was a little concerned. This thing is 21 tracks, and while it is an R&B album and a little easier to digest, it’s still very long. The features, while there are a few interesting ones here, I would’ve loved to see at least one female collab on here. Ty Dolla $ign, Cordae, Lil Baby, Thundercat, Chris Brown, Yung Bleu, Bryson Tiller, and YG is a pretty stacked list, but what is DJ Khaled doing here? Outside of that, I was hoping that H.E.R. would have an identity here. Yes, I’ve loved her music, but hopefully this would be the album to set her apart from the crowd. Is Back of My Mind that project? Let’s find out.
There’s another aspect I have to point out about H.E.R. before getting into the music itself. She has had at least one Grammy nomination each year since 2019 and even a couple wins thrown in there too, and she’s popped up at many different festivals and awards shows in between. It’s very clear that she’s getting a major industry push, and I completely understand why. Hell, the first single for this “Slide” came out in September 2019. It’s a good song, no doubt, but this was a very messy rollout for someone with so much backing from the industry. For the album itself, though, I’m feeling very conflicted about it. There’s nothing about it terrible, but there really isn’t anything noteworthy to point out either. One thing I could point out is the instrumental of “Bloody Waters,” which was produced by KAYTRANADA and has contributions from Thundercat, and even if I really needed a vocal performance from him, I’ll take bassist-Thundercat any day of the week. Because of the length of this project, this feels like a bit of a chore to get through. This didn’t need to be that long at all. Also, there’s nearly not enough guitar on this, that docks a couple points from it.
As I stated earlier, I’m very conflicted on Back of My Mind. There’s little on this album that’s bad and H.E.R. showcases her talents as a vocalist on many of these songs, but these songs are so nondescript. It feels like H.E.R. is kissing at the feet of the label, or maybe the label is the reason why this feels so bloated. It’s also generic at some points too. H.E.R. still has a lot of fuel left in the tank, though, and while this album could’ve been so much more, we just need to know who she is soon.
6/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Back of My Mind is an RCA Records release.
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