Welcome to pillbugm.blog

Following the virality of South African singer Tyla’s 2023 single Water launching her into potential mainstream pop girlie territory, it was due time for her to drop her eponymous debut album Tyla, which seems fairly named as her introduction to the international public and to me.

From its opening track Intro to the closing track To Last (I refuse to count the Water remix as a closing track), Tyla is chock full of similar, summery, amapiano and afrobeats infused singles in the vein of Water, though clearly more realized and varied than the repetitive simplicity of Water, thankfully.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint any particular track that I hate, but it’s also hard to drill on any highlights. A lot of the tracks are fairly similar-sounding, maintaining just enough sonic variation to keep you going until the end. The good part of Tyla is that it achieves its goal – it showcases Tyla’s potential and her ability to produce amicable music. Her debut is probably far from her magnum opus, but it is a cohesive, digestible album with fun earworms, catchy if overly simplistic lyrics, and helps cement Tyla’s sound within the broader mainstream, which seems fitting for the probable ambitions her and her team seem to display. It’s probably not a genre-defining, life-altering album that’s going to stick with me or the wider public for a long time, but it’s stay will probably be enjoyed.

Tyla has a more distinct sound and confidence coupled with an expressed desire to represent her South-African roots in her music which distinguish her from similar up-and-comers like Tate McRae and Renee Rapp, as evidenced by the critical acclaim of Tyla against the lukewarm to straight up negative reviews of the latter two albums. I do commend Tyla for having a bit more ambition within her burgeoning pop career, but I think I’ll need to hear a bit more from her before I’m fully convinced of her stardom and artistry.

Rating: 4.5/10

Best Track(s): Safer, Truth or Dare