The harmonizing Bailey sisters took their time -- three years -- in making their first true album. The deliberation paid off when The Kids Are Alright crossed into the Top 20 of Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart and was singled out with Grammy nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best New Artist. Their 2020 follow-up might seem rushed in comparison, and its assembly of high-profile producers -- Chloe was the primary producer on the debut -- suggests a conscious attempt to throw their commercial prospects into overdrive. While it evidently came together quicker and was shaped more by outsiders like
Sounwave and
Jake One,
Scott Storch,
Disclosure,
Mike WiLL Made-It, and
Boi-1da, the Baileys' second album is really a refinement of and progression from The Kids Are Alright. Its pop-R&B foundation is a little slicker, still tricked out with the occasional trap-styled production techniques -- probing bass, rattling percussion -- twisted just enough to not sound overdone. The Baileys are unsurprisingly able to adapt to chic throwback soul flavorings and acoustic pop, while on the title track, they slip and slide with finesse over
Disclosure's smoothed-out U.K. garage, punctuating it with an impossibly elegant chorus. Sisterhood on nuclear and communal levels is promoted to an unflagging extent by the women, who come across as eager superheroes without a weakness, unless feeling "Overwhelmed" counts, and they might be capable of paralyzing with a single roll of the eyes. They'll catch and reprimand any guy who acts out of line and will make him regret it. The fun peaks on "Tipsy": "I'll hit you where it hurts/If you don't put me first." ~ Andy Kellman