Kali Uchis teaches us how to love on 'Red Moon in Venus'

Kali Uchis is back and better than ever with her third studio album Red Moon in Venus. Sticking to her signature ethereal, yet soulful sound, she doesn’t disappoint. The Colombian-American artist known for her genre-bending tracks and multicultural influence focuses on the intricacies of love. While discussing femininity and romance throughout this project, Uchis gracefully bends through these themes both in English and Spanish. “Love is the message. Red Moon in Venus is a timeless, burning expression of desire, heartbreak, faith, and honesty, reflecting the divine femininity of the moon and Venus,” explained Uchis in her newsletter.

The album felt very cohesive thematically and sonically – most of the tracks fade into one another for seamless transitions. This record best fits in the R&B category, considering her style and features with other artists in this category like Summer Walker, Omar Apollo, and her current boyfriend Don Toliver. However, there is clearly a Latin pop influence as well.

Red Moon in Venus tells the story of Kali Uchis getting over a relationship and finding new love. There are a lot of internal thoughts from Uchis throughout this record as she contemplates ending a relationship in her song “Blue” and eventually vocalizes that she gets over this fear in “Deserve Me.”

Her singles “I Wish You Roses” and “Moonlight,” released in January and February respectively, were interesting choices to present as snippets of the album being that their meanings oppose each other. Despite both being positive outlooks on love, “I Wish You Roses” focuses on letting go of a relationship “Moonlight” while the other describes the highs of beginning a new relationship. The placement of these songs is worth noting – they are opposite ends of the album yet parallel each other.

Kali Uchis’s vocals on this project feel lush as some parts of the album feature natural elements like birds chirping and rushing water. Many of the songs also have imagery that pertains to flowers and gardens. Her messages are authentic, almost as if she is advising us on how to maintain a healthy and successful relationship. At the beginning of her song “Moral Conscience,” Uchis says, “One thing about karma, that bitch will find you.” This track is the realization that Kali’s ex-lover has made a mistake by breaking up with her and knows that karma will come back to haunt him.

Though most of the album sonically aligns with the rest of Kali Uchis’ discography, the final track “Happy Now” feels slightly out of place. “Happy Now” begins with an upbeat drum and piano riff, which sounds most similar to a bedroom indie pop song from the late 2010s. The piece shifts halfway through to a slower, more serene melody. The track is the perfect ending for the project though because it closes out the narrative of the album. During the song’s transition, Kali speaks about wanting to remember the good of a relationship and not to go too fast, serving as a good reminder for anyone entering a new partnership.

The project itself is an impressive piece of work, considering that Kali plans on releasing another album this year and that she has branched out more in terms of her vocal delivery. We can only hope that this run of quality releases continues.