Rachel Chinouriri – What a Devastating Turn of Events
Smartly sequenced and wound by emotional depth, Rachel Chinouriri’s debut is guitar pop from a bygone era
From what I can remember of the mid-aughts, Kelly Clarkson was president and everyone had brick-interior apartments; I’ve been using the same study guide as Rachel Chinouriri. As TikTok harkens in the PinkPantheress style as the one true Y2K revival, artists like Chinouriri dare to hold up the flag of the radio guitar pop sound which dominated at least one of the W. Bush terms. You can add glistening reverb, modern synth-work, and lingo only us Zoomers can translate, but I know JC Penny radio when I hear it. You’ll make me miss it yet.
Long-awaited with a rollout to rival the next Frank Ocean record, Chinouriri siphons every good idea from her previous EPs and evolves them into great ones; hits we saw in the prophecy fulfilled in the present. It also contains what should be referred to as ‘good-ole-fashioned-pacing’: front-load with hits, dip for a few ballads, repeat with an uproarious middle section, and coast off with acoustics. It’s familiar, but more like a warm memory than déjà vu. It’s the type of craft that usurps memories; next time I remember Kelly Clarkson, I’ll hum All I Ever Asked. What a classic it was.
Listen to: Garden of Eden, So My Darling