Compared to her contemporaries, Ari Lennox has long proven herself a traditionalist at heart. In contrast to SZA’s pop-driven angst and Summer Walker’s tentative trap–soul, Lennox consistently nods back to R&B in its purest form, positioning herself as a descendant of ’90s and early-2000s luminaries like Jill Scott and Erykah Badu. On ‘Vacancy’, however, she deftly balances that old-school soulfulness with modern flourishes that align with today’s sound du jour.
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Buoyed by warm backdrops and her shimmering soprano, Lennox’s third album – her first since departing J. Cole’s Dreamville imprint – is easily her most accessible yet. Where its predecessor, 2022’s ‘age/sex/location’, leaned inward, prioritising grown and sexy introspection, ‘Vacancy’ finds the singer pivoting toward perceptive playfulness and laugh-out-loud lyricism.
On the punchy title track, which doubles as an extended metaphor for sex (“Oooh baby, I want you to fill this vacancy”), she implores her lover to use his tongue “like a plug”. Yoga becomes a not-so-subtle stand-in for bedroom flexibility on ‘Pretzel’ (“Flip me and fold me… love how you roll me, you put it in a pretzel”), while she promises to “hit that high key” if he “plays it nasty” on the frisky ‘High Key’. Elsewhere, Lennox turns romantic frustration into comedy on the groovy ‘Horoscope’, blaming a year’s worth of failed relationships on astrology before landing the punchline that these boys “put the ho into horoscope”. The innuendos may verge on corny, but they land because Lennox commits to them with infectious joy.
Sonically, ‘Vacancy’ is steeped in the sultry elegance that has become Lennox’s signature. Album opener ‘Mobbin’ in DC’ glides on pianos, snares, and trumpets that evoke vintage neo-soul reminiscent of the Soulquarians’ heyday, while looping doo-wop vocals shimmer beneath standout ‘Under the Moon’. The lone stylistic outlier is ‘Soft Girl Era’, a buoyant celebration of Black femininity tailor-made for radio rotation. It’s little surprise the track comes courtesy of hitmakers Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, though ‘Vacancy’’s strongest moments remain those that place Lennox firmly in her sexy lounge-singer bag.
‘Vacancy’ refines what Lennox has always done best: melodic instinct, humour as a defence mechanism, and desire with a wink. The album’s pleasures are tactile and immediate, the kind of R&B built for dim lights and late-night texts. If the genre is perpetually caught between nostalgia and novelty, then ‘Vacancy’ thrives by living in the present.
Details
Record label: Interscope Records
Release date: January 23, 2025
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