Second albums often have the working title of “difficult” and Lætitia Tamko’s second album is anything but. On this outing, the Cameroon-born New Yorker goes mildly electric as she figures out the secret to self-care and extending kindness to others.
Written and produced by Tamko, there’s a softness that cushions the strong statements she makes in songs like Secret Medicine. Noting her repetitive self-destructive tendencies in a relationship, she doesn’t scold herself or her partner but uses them as a lesson. Every Woman is that all too familiar millennial tale of burnout and exhaustion.
Truly examining who she is in herself and through the eyes of others, the ’80s synthpop drums and dramatic crescendos in Flood show the price she’s willing to pay for love. Sitting somewhere between R&B and folk, Wits About You takes on the bigger topic of race as she explains how she struggled to fit in with the indie scene. Wide eyed, smart and sensitive, she takes in the world and reflects it back to us. Pulling you in with a whisper and landing hard truths, she presents emotional and social perspectives that we could apply to everyday life.
