Doja Cat — Scarlet — Album Review
Pop | Hip-Hop | R&B
Listen on Spotify | Listen on apple Music
Doja Cat was one of those artists who I only really dabbled in slightly prior. While I’m able to recognise some of her most well-known tracks sonically, I admit that I have never considered listening to a record of here with a critical mindset until recently.
With the release of the teaser track “Paint The Town Red”, Doja Cat ultimately won me over when it came to giving her fourth studio album Scarlet a spin.
From what was portrayed through teaser tracks such as the aforementioned “Paint The Town Red”, as well as tracks like “Demons”, it certainly seemed that Doja was going for a more gritty approach, which in turn also struck me as her taking a more independent approach to her musical craft.
Fittingly, the album begins with those two tracks back-to-back, giving those who (like myself) had enjoyed those tracks prior to the albums release, a good gateway into the rest of the album.
And given my very minimal experience with Doja’s music, the aesthetic of those two tracks was all I really had to goo off of when it came to what kind of moods I could expect.
Funnily enough, Doja actually brings a lot of versatility to this album. However, in the case of this album, said versatility does come across to me as a slight double-edged sword.
I suppose it’s mainly just coming from a place in which I wanted to be introduced to Doja Cat, but I don’t feel that the aesthetics put forward in what was teased follows through too well on the rest of the album. I know that versatility can be a great thing in most cases, and there are certainly enjoyable qualities to this on Scarlett. However, with “Paint The Town Red” seemingly garnering many new listeners (like myself), I feel that consistency may have been the better play in the case of this album.
Therefore, with Doja exploring so many musical avenues under one album, the end result has its hits and misses. Nevertheless, it should be said that the tracks that do work, do so brilliantly. There are even a fair few on this project that share sonic similarities to the more atmospheric and spacey cuts on Doja’s previous work, but develop upon that style to create some pretty spectacular tunes.
Another thing that I felt was a bot hit or miss on this record was Doja’s lyrics. While she showed that she could definitely pit out some great lyrics on some of the better tracks on here, there were others tracks which displayed songwriting that was uninspired at best.
Pairing all of the different musical avenues that Doja took with the sheer length of this album (which carries 17 tracks and a runtime of nearly a full hour), it almost felt inevitable that Scarlet would strike me as quite the mixed bag.
It has to be said though, there are some truly iconic tracks to cherry-pick from this record. And going forward, I hope that the overall aesthetic that this album’s best moments bring to the table might ultimately be the aesthetic that Doja Cat sticks to in the foreseeable future.
Favourite Tracks: Paint The Town Red | Fuck the Girls (FTG) | Skull And Bones
Least Favourite Track: Wet Vagina
Kemosabe Records | RCA Records
