With slick easy vibes, smooth breezy aesthetics and sweet yet spicy persona, Doja Cat lends her sharp harmonious chords, breathy voicings and quirky raps too a dreamy psychedelic Trap and R&B experience. With a team of over ten plus producers, a surprisingly cohesive mood emerges across the record. Led by the cutting percussive presence of shuffling hi-hats, snappy claps and crunky snares, deep bass hits punch and rumble below. It leaves space for tinges of Ethereal and Dream Pop instrumentation to usher a spin on the trendy popular sounds of the times. The contrast between rhythm section and everything else is surprisingly inviting.
Planet Her plays with a sense of depth as Doja is central in shaping her songs with hooks, choruses and raps over the deliberately underwhelming roll of traditional melodies. Her personality manifests, at times highly sexual and literal far beyond suggestive, into a variety of topics, often dealing with fame, prominence and perception. Her performances felt like thee endearing factor. Especially so when her voice shifts up pitch. Navel, quirky, swift, the cadence, creative inflections and self assured attitude reigns over lyrical content, although the value of words is a common pitfall for this listener who feels the melody and aesthetic far more so.
Speaking on aesthetics, the housing of her various voices, through reverberation, panning and placing, is a constant delight. So often does the handling of her singing seem to elevate what she expresses. Its as if their is a great understanding between artist and producers. Some highlights include the anthemic opening Woman and a great feature from The Weeknd. Wherever he goes, his take on the Synthwave genre seems to follow. The tone fits well into the variety of temperaments offered, leaning into aggressive Trap rap grooves and opposite the fiesty, hints of R&B, Soul and Dream Pop grace the modern Pop music sound with a gentler touch. All in all Planet Her is a fantastic record from a young artist with style and persona in abundance.
Rating: 7/10