Ravyn Lenae
Bird's Eye
Release Date: Aug 9, 2024
Genre(s): R&B
Record label: Atlantic
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Album Review: Bird's Eye by Ravyn Lenae
Excellent, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Ravyn Lenae's stellar debut full-length, Hypnos, was a vivid, exploratory work filled with adventurous production, smooth but hooky vocals, and imaginative lyrics. The songs touched on house, Afrobeats, synth pop, and even '70s soft rock, but it all felt unified by a singular vision, and it's held up extremely well since its release. Second album Bird's Eye was executive produced by Dahi and features input from longtime collaborator Steve Lacy as well as the legendary Jam & Lewis, along with several other producers.
Based on rating 8/5
ReviewsAlbum Reviews Ravyn Lenae – ‘Bird’s Eye’ review: a slept-on auteur takes flight The Chicago singer-songwriter expands her sonic horizons on this gorgeous, ambitious second album By Cyclone Wehner 9th August 2024 Ravyn Lenae must be R&B’s best kept secret. While her contemporaries SZA, H. E.
Based on rating 4/5
Ravyn Lenae is only 25, but her blend of delicate indie-rock and muscular R&B is masterfully self-assured. The Chicago-born, LA-based artist’s 2022 debut, Hypnos, gestured at greatness, but its follow-up, Bird’s Eye, is the real deal: a breathtaking pop suite that’s fleet-footed but rock-solid in its convictions, easily swaying between styles while always foregrounding Lenae’s gossamer voice. She mainly writes about complicated relationships – the bread and butter of R&B – but there are quiet revelations to be found across the album: “I don’t know where to start/ Can’t say where I begin,” she sings on Pilot, “Just know I’m 24/ Small to the world I’m in.”.
Based on rating 8/10
With her immaculate voice and smooth soundscapes, the rising R&B star created an effortless-sounding journey, subdued and often homogenous (for better or for worse). For her sophomore record, Bird's Eye - the difference is stark, gone are the plentiful lulling melodies in favour of bold experimentation and a consistently surprising tracklist. From its first moments with the guitar-laden, indie-pop chill of "Genius," it's clear this is a different Lenae.
Based on rating 8/10
Bird's Eye opens with the bouncy soft rock of "Genius," setting the basic premise of the album: relationships are hard and sometimes ill-fated, but we're wired to try again and again. Lenae's collaborations are notoriously seamless, and Childish Gambino's feature on soulful third track "One Wish" is no exception. Dedicated to Lenae's complex relationship with her father, the lyrics -- "If promises are gonna break / Why promise in the first place?" -- are a gut punch if there ever was one.
Based on rating 7.8/10
Ravyn Lenae’s 2022 debut, HYPNOS, established her as a chameleon, adept at blending cushy R&B with her own futurist styles. While this approach placed the 25-year-old singer-songwriter among this generation’s innovators, her follow-up, Bird’s Eye, is a deliberate shift toward a more boundless exploration. For this album, Lenae and executive producer Dahi looked to create something new and formless, pivoting if the music ever felt, as he explained, “too R&B.” While HYPNOS showcased the fluidity of R&B, Bird’s Eye is more varied: Lenae experiments like she’s an alchemist in an R&D lab, trialing new combinations of downtempo guitar, gentle reggae-pop, and even a stuttering, Brainfeeder-esque beat..
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