Hi, everyone. Bloodthony Tesstano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Rachel Chinouriri album, I Think I Spoke Too Soon.

This is the sophomore full-length album of UK-based pop singer and songwriter Miss Rachel Chinouriri, whose work and trajectory we have been tracking since the release of her Four° in Winter EP back in 2021. That was my EP of the year. A really lavish, low-key, entrancing, alluring combination of bedroom pop and R&B and a handful of other genres blended together in this really kind of seamless and sleepy way. A very beautiful, low-key project, and off of that short collection of tracks, Rachel seemingly built up a noticeable amount of momentum in a short period of time and took this newfound attention as an opportunity to do a little bit of a genre switch.

Dabbling much more in bedroom pop and indie rock on her follow-up Better Off Without EP in 2022, and really doubling down on that move by the time her debut, What a Devastating Turn of Events, came around in 2024. Where she really led with the guitars in a series of pop rock and indie rock cuts, with some acoustic jams nestled in between those moments as well.

And while I wouldn't say that album blew me away, given the expectations that were set by that breakout EP for me, there was still a lot of standout songwriting on that record. And off that project as well, Rachel became a little bit of an artist's artist, receiving endorsements from the likes of Adele even, putting on a lot of good shows, doing the festival circuit.

And in the couple of years since that album dropped, Rachel only has gotten more confident in her songwriting chops. At least confident enough to subject fans to another genre switch on I Think I Spoke Too Soon – where the singles of this one really forecast her going into more of a pop and dance direction. But with the same levels of subtlety and nuance that she's been known for vocally and production-wise due to her last album. Which for a dance record, for a straight-up pop record, doing something more nuanced and a little more measured may not always be the move. Especially in an age where the pop field currently is so competitive and you have so many artists who are doing everything they can desperately to fight through the noise.

But just like with her debut, I Think I Spoke Too Soon sees Rachel finding her own path. And proves that you don't need to do too much so long as the songwriting is good.

For example, the song "Broken Chair" is a fantastically written anthem with some awesome group chorus sections on the back end of the song. And a lot of thoughtful writing about being in this post-breakup state and you're comparing yourself to the other person. Seeing that you're put together, you have friends, you're not lonely right now, and the other person is. And there's something very positive and affirming about the song, the way it progresses, and the crescendo it finally hits at the finish that feels something along the lines of like an LCD Soundsystem "All My Friends"-type jam.

And the whole thing pulls off that very righteous vibe while simultaneously being very polite and easygoing in tone. This is not a really loud, over-the-top song that sounds like it's meant for the literal dance floor, but maybe more a dance floor in your head while you're wearing headphones in your bedroom. There are other tracks on this record as well that effectively work in all these tasteful and thoughtful dance elements without pushing the sound of anything in the red. Namely, the opening track as well as "Pretty Girls."

And then from there, the versatility of this record expands into cuts that take on more of a synth-pop flavor, more of a rock flavor. "Baby Steps," which is a highlight for me, not only because of kind of its 80s throwback energy, but also the lyrical framing of this track that deals with this tedious emotional progression and likens it to having to stop to take baby steps in order to get to where Rachel wants to be. And there's just something about the off-kilter melody of that which just buries itself in my ear every time I hear it.

I'm also really enamored with the throbbing, pulsating synth sequences and chords that paint much of "Shiver," along with those glossy synth leads as well. The way they combine with Rachel's voice, it just makes for a very entrancing experience.

However, I will say, these persistently very breathy, very low-key, very understated vocal performances, I think they only seem to serve Rachel sometimes on these tracks. I mean, given how soft and subtle much of the singing was from her last album, I didn't exactly expect a vocal blowout here. But given that you do have following tracks like "Make Believe," where the drums are hitting a little harder, the synths feel a little more saturated and compressed and are taking up more room in the mix. Tracks like this, and the opener that I mentioned earlier as well, these songs do create moments where Rachel's voice does feel a little too buried in the mix. Or at least, it feels like the production is really what's carrying the bulk of the appeal here on these songs.

Even "Crash This Car," for example, which for me, lyrically, is one of the best and most captivating and even heart-wrenching moments on the album, and a great sort of message to end this entire album off on, given all the themes of heartbreak and this dysfunctional relationship and breaking up. But again, how understated Rachel's singing is on that track, I think kind of lessens the emotional impact of what she's actually singing about.

But there actually are some songs on this record where Rachel is coming at things vocally a little more aggressively, with a bit more, I guess, energy and animation, and I would even say sass. The song "Ah!" is a prime example of this. She's kind of doing almost a little bit of a bedroom indie rock, post-punk kind of thing with this song, with the detuned guitars and the really punchy, straightforward drums. And she does have a very over-the-top for her, and posh delivery, that matches the energy of this instrumental. Even if it is a little bit more of a talk-singing thing. I think she comes with the song "I'm a Star" with quite a bit of energy, too.

So for me, I think it's really just a matter of her having taken one too many measured approaches on a bulk of these songs. Another example, to me, being the song "Parasite." Considering how incensed and disillusioned that she is with the writing on that track, the aggravation behind that writing, certainly, could have come through in the singing a bit more, I think. So if there is a limitation to the appeal of I Think I Spoke Too Soon, it's there.

However, through tracks like "Ah!" and through tracks like "I'm a Star," it is becoming clear that Rachel is slowly coming out of her vocal shell a little bit more. And to point things back to the writing, the lyrics on this record are certainly more biting than they were on her last album, as well. So clearly, Rachel is coming out of her lyrical shell, too, in a way, with more descriptive, coarse and uncompromising language and images of a relationship that aren't always even flattering toward her.

So are there elements of I Think I Spoke Too Soon that feel like improvements upon Rachel's debut album? Yes, I will say comparatively, this is a slightly bolder and more dynamic album. The production is certainly hitting harder as well, but where this record falls short is, I feel like at least some of the time, Rachel did not step things up enough vocally to match the energy of that production, and often kind of sounds like she's shrinking in comparison to some of these bigger beats and palettes of synthesizers.

So on that front, there's still certainly room for improvement, but there's still a lot of great highlights and a lot to love about I Think I Spoke Too Soon, though. Which is why I'm feeling about a strong seven on this one.

Anthony Fantano. Rachel Chinouriri. Forever.