Following a critically-acclaimed debut album, two BRIT Award nominations and a tour with Grammy-winning artist Sabrina Carpenter, indie pop singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri returns with sophomore album “I Think I Spoke Too Soon”--a spangled, bleeding portrait of a budding pop sensation navigating her twenties, industry life and a chaotic relationship with alcohol. Produced in collaboration with APOB (Aaron Paul O’Brien), the record features a marked departure from the visceral indie rock sound that gained Chinouriri widespread virality, the crashing guitars and acoustic instrumentals replaced by disco pop beats, 80s synths and new age rock elements.
At the start of the record, it’s easy assume that “I Think I Spoke Too Soon” is another one of those sophomore albums; the kind of generic pop record a rising indie star is forced to make by her big bad label in order to appeal to a mainstream audience, but Rachel quickly shows us that this is not the case. Although the production is decidedly different from that of her debut–and perhaps not always as full bodied–the music still retains the thoughtful lyricism, narrative brilliance and pure artistic essence that has made her so beloved by her audience. Thematically, there is no attempt on Rachel’s part to maintain the glittering illusions of blissed-out stardom and non-stop partying; from the first track “One Song Away From Crying”, listeners are met with instant, demystifying candor. She rips through the shining mask without ceremony, singing “I’ve never looked better, and I’ve never felt worse” over jaunty pop synths.
The mastery within this record lies not just in the sharpness of Rachel Chinouriri’s pen, but in her refusal to sugarcoat reality; shimmering motifs and imagery coexist with the dark, gory truth, creating a picture that feels deliciously tangible. On the buzzy, incandescent “Pretty Girls” she sings about a girl “slowly bleeding glitter on the floor”, and on “I’m A Star”--an insistent record reminiscent of her older work–her skeleton keeps trying on her clothes and leaving burnt skin on the counter while she trips over the bones. “AHHHH!!” quite literally screams into the void, detailing one of the many life-upending love affairs a girl must endure in her twenties, while unexpected tear-jerker “Broken Chair” reveals the fragmented psyche of everyone’s favourite party girl.
At no point during this record does Rachel Chinouriri shy away from the chaotic mess of becoming, and this courage–coupled with clever, whimsical one liners and painfully vivid imagery–makes for a cathartic listen. “I Think I Spoke Too Soon” not only embodies the rough, gleaming layers of a twenty-something pop diva, it turns her inside out and makes you look.
