Kali Uchis - Sincerely, Review
Motherhood, grief, and love in full bloom; Uchis’ fifth studio album is entirely enrapturing.
“This is a story of a girl / Who was once imprisoned by her own mind / And freedom’s never felt this good”.
Uchis commences in her fifth studio album Sincerely, with opening track “Heaven is a Home…”, a delicately crafted piece that beautifully encompasses the project’s vulnerable, and blooming nature. Sincerely, still adopts Uchis’ glimmering flowery sonics, yet it excavates the sensations of transformative love, cosmic connections, and the fragility of motherhood. Uchis makes room for tears of joy and swoonful love, perfectly congealed by a vintage R&B/ Soul flow. Uchis made her mark in the Latin music world with her Grammy-nominated project, ORQUÍDEAS which brought her home trophies from the Billboard Latin Music Awards and Latin American Music Awards. Uchis’ discography is nothing short of extensive, dancing confidently between the Colombian-American’s Latin roots and critically-acclaimed R&B sonics; And now, we find ourselves amidst Sincerely, : an immaculate sonic creation of Uchis’ thorns and roses; Her painful memories, and the flowering visions of her future.
Sincerely,’s lead single “Sunshine & Rain” gave listeners a succinct feel for what we could expect from the album. The track includes a short adlib from Uchis’ late mother, a rather heavily-touched subject on the project. Uchis expresses to her audience her newfound sense of clarity and peace, brought upon by life’s tribulations. She laces a rose-colored thread throughout Sincerely, that preaches the importance of embracing pain and grief, as it’s necessary in order to let the light in. In the face of a wounded and bruised past, “Sugar! Honey! Love!” discusses Uchis’ discovery of timeless love that “put the blood back into her [my] heart”. Uchis expresses deep gratitude for the love she’s received through a dramatic ensemble of whining strings and lengthy silk vocals.
Uchis articulates the freeing powers of adopting transparency in her relationships in track “Lose My Cool” (a personal favorite). The groovy alt-pop track melts a moody electric guitar into a nostalgic 80’s love ballad halfway through the tune, where Uchis croons about all-consuming matters of the heart. Her pure devotion to honest love is also proudly displayed in “For: You”, a synth-pop standout where Uchis plays out her Doo-wop vocals over a dreamy synth. Sincerely, portrays the rawest version of Kali Uchis her audience has heard yet. She warmly invites self-critique, illuminates emotional vulnerability, and places pain in a bed of blooming flowers.
“Silk Lingerie,” is a pouty romantic’s moody anthem where the feminine powerhouse switches from her usual bodacious confidence and finds a voice that secretes a twinge of insecurity. Uchis sings “How do you do it?/ If only I was as perfect as you” and “How did you fall for someone
complicated and flawed?” to drive home her awe in the unmatched love she presently experiences. It’s really quite beautiful how Uchis owns her personal flaws, corroding the perfectionism we cling to so tightly when we feel we could lose someone we love.
“All I Can Say”, which was accompanied by Morticia Adamas-esque music video, waltzes amongst a 60’s beat and centralizes Uchis’ unapologetic lifestyle. This vintage track is gleaming with the themes that are so proudly embedded in the project: Protection of peace, and wearing your heart on your sleeve. “All I Can Say”’s gorgeous fluttering staccato vocals harken back to sounds from the deeply melancholic “Loner” off of Por Vida. Uchis infused the track with a profound sense of self-assurance that lands with such airy elegance. We’ve experienced Uchis’ confidence in Red Moon In Venus with tracks like “Hasta Cuando”, but Sincerely, drapes her lyricism and intention in pure enlightenment; It’s a relinquishing of all things bitter and braggadocious, and an embracing of inner peace and acceptance.
Above the layer of clouds rests the track ‘Angels All Around Me”, a spiritually charged testament to the power of cosmic connection. As she paves her way through grief with the recent loss of her mother, Uchis adopts a faith in divine protection, and reminds her listeners that we all have a pair of eyes watching us through the breaks in the clouds. “Angels All Around Me” orchestrates the hope that Sincerely, holds so dearly with her echoing angelic vocals and floating guitar strums.
Sincerely, is the rose petal scaffolding of Kali Uchis herself. The love, the confusion, the mistrials, and the healing, trace the shape of Uchis’ soul. Sincerely, seeks to invite us into an intimate world where love and grief dance hand-in-hand. This project is blaringly dynamic, and entirely personal as Uchis radiates in her growth as a mother, partner, and artist, all throughout the length of 14 ‘letters’ (to whom it may concern).