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“Red Moon in Venus” is Colombian-American R&B/neo-soul singer-songwriter Kali Uchis’ third studio album. The album dropped last year in 2023, and I’ve been meaning to review it ever since. In fact, I actually made the draft for this review the week the album released, banged out a paragraph, and it’s been shamefully sitting in my drafts ever since. Fear not, however, because I’m finally completing this review now.

Red Moon is another showcase of the honey-smooth sweetness that is Uchis’ voice. The gorgeous ethereal butterfly-themed album cover perfectly encapsulates the entire vibe of the album, a manifestation of fantastical sensuality and the intoxicating feeling of love or lust at first sight. Each track bleeds into the other seamlessly in an incredible display of atmosphere-setting. Though this also means that the album can sometimes lean too heavy on the reverb and offers very little in terms of sonic variety or lyrical depth (I should add that I don’t understand Spanish, but this album is primarily in English), it seems to me that breakthrough or experimentation was never the goal with this album, but instead to create a coherent aesthetic experience that I indeed thoroughly enjoyed in the time I spent with this album.

In the time since Red Moon has come out, Uchis has announced a new studio album Orquídeas to be released in the current month of January 2024, which was also partially my motivation for finally completing this review. Judging by the leading single Te Mata, it seems that Uchis is doubling down on sensuality with the R&B, rhythmic groove dialed down, and I look forward to see how this new album will play out.

Best Track(s): “I Wish You Roses”, “Como Te Quiero Yo”, “Moonlight”, “Happy Now”

Rating: 6.5/10