Brushing genre boundaries aside once again, multi-hyphenate Willow Smith makes another stylistic pivot on her fourth studio album
Lately I Feel Everything. Having excelled on her R&B, pop, and alternative singer/songwriter forays, Willow straps on a guitar for this potent rock blast that bridges pop-punk and '90s alt-rock with an unpolished messiness that is unapologetic, youthful, and a pure thrill. Initially thought to be a purely pop-punk exercise,
Lately reveals itself as something more moody and angsty, the cathartic outburst of a young artist letting off some steam in a crazy world where she has to navigate regular human emotions and relationship woes against a backdrop of fame and privilege. Those darker moments -- "Don't Save Me," "Naive," and "Lipstick" being the best of the bunch -- are a time warp to the '90s, when distorted guitars, crunchy riffs, and atmospheric swirls dredged up plenty of anxiety, pain, and confusion. The lush rocker "4ever" links Willow's eras, sounding like an introspective outtake from The 1st backed by a studio band. In addition to guests Ayla Tesler-Mabe,
Tierra Whack, and
Cherry Glazerr, Willow recruits a pair of famous genre predecessors to inject some cred to this project with their high-profile co-signs. As the go-to drummer for the 2020s crop of pop-punk revivalists (see
Yungblud,
MGK, and
KennyHoopla),
Travis Barker lends his trademark delivery on a trio of tracks, including the hit single "Transparent Soul" and album standout "Grow," a bright romp that features pop-punk big sister
Avril Lavigne on vocals. That latter track is worth the price of admission alone, but the rest of this brief set is such an unexpected surprise that it's worth the nearly half-hour investment. There seems to be nothing that Willow can't do as she adds rock to her résumé with ease. ~ Neil Z. Yeung