Kiana Lede's vivid second album is much more complex than what its title puts forth. The same goes for "Grudges" itself, featuring a stirring performance from the singer in which she's overburdened by fallout from a relationship that has left her full of pain and remorse, and unable to move forward. Over darker atmospheres on the following "Deserve,"
Lede turns up the heat on her ex, and on the soul-rooted "Irresponsible," she truly unloads while keeping her cool. Even the slow jams are multi-dimensional, veering from the sexually explicit "Promise Me" to the vulnerable "Jealous," a plea for exclusivity. After the album hits its lowest emotional point with "Same Type" ("Let's start with my dad, mean no disrespect/Then to my ex, he made a mess"), the mood lifts for a closing trio of songs bathed in a warm glow. A spectrum of emotion -- from grief and weariness to hopefulness and anticipation -- can be sensed in the notes
Lede holds in the chorus of the penultimate "Closure."
Grudges ultimately sounds like a hard-fought triumph. ~ Andy Kellman
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