Tinashe's Amethyst Mixtape

Amethyst by Tinashe. Credit: Tinashe
Amethyst by Tinashe. Credit: Tinashe

 

Following her success with Aquarius and the remixes spawned from “2 On,” Tinashe released her fourth mixtape, Amethyst, yesterday. It’s an appropriate followup to her February birthday, astrological sign, and birthstone. She enlists a crew of artists, including Ritz Reynolds, Dominic Angelella, and Legacy, whom she all worked with on Aquarius, to craft an overall good mixtape, however it leaves something to be desired. One can only look forward to her next release or tour to satisfy oneself. A track-by-track review follows after the jump.

“Dreams Are Real” First track eases the listener in with faded/reverb vocals and a soft instrumental that helps Tinashe’s vocals stand out. Repeated chants of “the future is mine” sets the mood for the rest of this mixtape.

“Just The Way I Like You” While the fluttering noises in the beginning can be off-putting at first, it’s not very jarring and ends up working itself mellifluously into the song’s message. She talks about her relationships, starting with some retrospective muses and shifting to the present. The fluttering can be likened to the way her heart beats quickly and her mind races when she’s spending time or thinking about that special someone.

“Looking 4 It” Debatably her weakest track on this compilation, “Looking 4 It” has the potential to live up to her usually fiery bite but ends up drilling in the fact she “be [sic] looking for loving in all the wrong places,” between mentions of Tupac and “bae.”

“Something to Feel” Talk about mixed signals. She opens by singing about her past, mostly materialistic relationship with a guy and how she knew she was being played but still stuck with him (how many of you are nodding?).

“Feed me lies, I believed you, that’s the saddest thing, but I believed in you and I really shouldn’t be so surprised. Fall down hard, ain’t no way to love, it’s been way too hard, finally had enough I need to make it out the dark.”

Now, she’s moved on to bigger and better things, yet she closes with echoes of “I’m horny,” which forces the question: What’s going on??

“Wanderer”The song opens and damn.

“Roam, oh oh, wanderer. He’s moving on tonight to find, you’re living in between the lines. And you roam, oh oh, wanderer, stuck in between the space and time, lost in your mind.”

“Wanderer” is the strongest track by far, technically and lyrically. It can only be described and recommend as something that would play as coasting down the highway, top-down and wind coursing through one’s hair, with the last rays of sun spreading a majestic purple-pink across the horizon and a tingly warmth in one’s body. Producers Ritz Reynolds and DJ Dahl creatively employ a twinkling scale, reverb, auto-tune, vocal layering, and more to complement Tinashe’s almost wistful-sounding vocals. She enters the last verse with, “speak it to existence, and I’m about change, screaming ‘good riddance!’” reminiscent of “Aquarius,” “Bet,” and “Bated Breath” who share the same producers.

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“Worth It” feat. Iamsu is Tinashe sharing her vulnerabilities with the listener. She sings that despite the mistakes she’s learned from in the past, she is trying to work towards putting her trust in a new man. This song’s reminiscent of Drake’s “Thank Me Now,” as she goes into storytelling mode and seemingly invites the listener to chat about her guy over double-pump lattes. A passionate jazzy outro leaves it up to the imagination to guess what happens next with her new love interest.

“Wrong” Produced by Ryan Hemsworth, it encapsulates the themes throughout Amethyst by working in lines about the past, love, internal turmoil, and her hardened attitude that still has some soft spots.

Fans at her current World Tour. Credit: Tinashe
Fans during her world tour. Credit: Tinashe

 

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