Ravyn Lenae's Blue Island answers 'industry plant' critics
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- Ravyn Lenae released Blue Island, a 14-track pop album drawing on stated influences ranging from Janet Jackson and the Cranberries to Blondie, the Sundays, Suicide's Martin Rev, and Squarepusher — a 'doubling-down' on the poppier direction of her prior work.
- The album follows the success of 'Love Me Not,' a 2024 single that reached the Top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic but drew online accusations that Lenae was an 'industry plant' — criticism she says extended to 'questioning my identity and Blackness.'
- Opener 'Handle' launches with an earworm pop chorus before pivoting to grunge-influenced distorted guitar arpeggios reminiscent of early-90s mainstream rock, while mid-album 'Potential' erupts from pop-ballad form into a 'squall of guitar noise' and 'ferocious, juddering rhythm' recalling Squarepusher or Aphex Twin.
- The tracklist includes an acoustic duet with Dominic Fike ('Reputation') that the reviewer calls 'boilerplate' and 'could be the work of pretty much anyone,' alongside an electro-influenced 'Saturday Night' praised for its beat more than its songwriting.
- Closer 'Let Us In' appears to obliquely address the Love Me Not controversy; the reviewer reads its lyrics as 'a plea for acceptance for artists that decline to fit a standard mould,' arguing Blue Island has already answered critics through its stylistic collage.
- Lenae's prior 2024 album Bird's Eye featured collaborations with Childish Gambino and Ty Dolla $ign, and the remix of 'Love Me Not' featured British bedroom-pop artist Rex Orange County.
Why it matters: By refusing to settle into a single sound across 14 tracks — stitching Janet Jackson, the Cranberries, Suicide, and Squarepusher into one record — Lenae turns the 'industry plant' discourse that shadowed her 2024 crossover hit into a creative flex, with the reviewer arguing Blue Island answers her critics through artistic singularity rather than explanation.
