Singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez blends her Colombian and Canadian cultures well as per usual in her latest album BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US, in which she unleashes her dark encounters with love.
Reyez gained popularity after dropping “Gatekeeper,” a track on her debut 2017 EP Kiddo. The song and the short film that accompanies it both highlight the sexism and exploitation in the music industry. Her single, “FIGURES,” which was released in promotion for Kiddo, also played a large role in the jumpstart of her career. Reyez added “FIGURES” to the end of BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US, perhaps due to its relevance to the theme of the album.
Reyez opens up about tensions and heartbreak on BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US. Her high-pitch voice harmonizes perfectly with the instrumentals, making something beautiful out of her dark feelings.
“DO YOU LOVE HER” is the track that opens the album, where Reyez sings about a manipulative significant other in her life who does not treat her the way she deserves and makes her feel like she needs to compete with another person for love. Reyez sings about the ways in which he controlled her throughout the relationship and how she loved him enough to desperately turn into the “monster” he turned her into from his constant games. The mixture of the piano and string quartet with a trap beat perfectly matches the tone of the lyrics.
Reyez explains her feelings to an up-and-down lover about how his jealousy controls his feelings for her, singing: “Games, you don't want me unless I'm someone else's / You don't even know you're being selfish / You mercy me only when I'm melting / Down to my tears only when I'm helpless.”
Reyez highlights her Colombian roots and bilingual abilities in “LA MEMORÍA,” where she releases her feelings to someone from her past about the fact that he will never fully escape her memory, even though he treated her so poorly. She explains to him that he needs to receive a taste of his own medicine in order to understand how broken she is.
Reyez delicately touches on the fact that her ex lover’s excuses will never lead her to forgive him, and she questions how he would feel if she treated him the poor way she was treated. She sings, “Vos fuiste el que me trataste mal pero quieres excusas / Vos fuiste el que me trataste mal / Qué tal que yo te tratara igual.”
“SAME SIDE” is Reyez’s ode to a lover who, despite treating her poorly, is still a light in her life that she does not want to put out yet. She highlights her willingness to change her ways and become a different person internally in order to keep him around. The singer apologizes for not being her lover’s ex since she is clearly being compared to her and feeling like she needs to compete with her.
Reyez highlights the conflicting feelings her and her jaded lover have for each other that draw them closer, singing: “You’re such an a--hole, but I see a prince / And I’m a good girl, but you see a b---- / I wanna make love; you wanna burn a bridge.”
The impressive aspect of the album is that it contains a wide range of feelings and emotions, but they come together neatly and coherently. Although most of the album has melancholy tones and lyrics, she gives off bad girl, egotistical vibes on “ANKLES,” “ROOF” and “DOPE,” as all three tracks consist of her expressing her significance and bragging about the fact that she is not like any other girl.
“LOVE IN THE DARK” was the third single released off the album and is a beautiful ballad in which Reyez delicately touches on her views of unconditional love, all while mentioning past experience with love failing. The song is followed by “I DO,” which has a gospel choir supporting Reyez in her lyrics that seem to be attempting to put together a love that has fallen apart.
At the end of “I DO,” Reyez leaves a personal note of her speaking in English and repeating each line in Spanish, almost adlib-like. She says, “These days, I let all my flowers die (Últimamente dejo morir todas mis flores) / I like all my flowers dead (Porque me gusta mis flores muertas) / In a vase, over some rocks (En un jarrón, sobre unas piedras) / Because there is more control that way (Porque hay más control de esa manera).” This is a metaphor about her letting go of past experiences with love, rather than trying to rebuild what is already long gone.
In BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US, Reyez goes from singing about her heartbreak on one track to bragging about her worth in the next. The singer-songwriter is communicating her darkest emotions in an artistically beautiful manner. Listening to the album feels like experiencing her emotions firsthand, especially since most people have experienced heartbreak in different forms. Jessie Reyez proved herself yet again with this album full of unfiltered emotions.
Rating: 4.8/5
