The group TLC has been a musical staple in my life since I was a young girl. I have bought every one of their albums from CrazySexyCool to 3D. TLC, their newest album released June 30, is no exception.

This self-titled album, which will be their final, had many songs that had a similar vibe to some of their previous songs. However, while there were some throwbacks, there were also songs that sounded like more recent songs released by other artists.

While I will not go in depth about every song on the album, I will discuss the songs which stood out to me.

The first song that did this was “No Introduction,” the first track on the album. 

TLC announces their comeback and states that they need no introduction because of what they have done for the music industry. They do this through listing every one of their popular songs such as “Waterfalls” and “No Scrubs.”

The second song and their first single from the album, “Way Back,” embodies the old-school R&B and Hip-Hop style. This is appropriate because this is what the entire song is back.

Throughout the entire song, the group reminisces about what they went through when they were first beginning. In the process, they also reference some musicians that reminded them of those times such as Michael Jackson, Prince, James Brown, and others.

Snoop Dogg also makes a guest appearance on the track.

The final song that really caught my interest was “Perfect Girls.” This song has the strongest connection with their previous music. This song feels as if it is a sequel to “Unpretty” from their album Fanmail.

“Unpretty” focuses on how women focus on their external beauty and the lengths they go to in order to feel pretty. In “Perfect Girls,” the message is that “perfect girls aren’t real.” The overall theme with both songs is that people should learn to love themselves.

The meanings aren’t the only thing they share in common. Both songs also have a more mellow flow and the instrumentals play a crucial role to evoke emotion. 

Overall, this album embodies the idea of a throwback. When listening to this album, listeners are thrown back to the 90s, but there are enough new sounds that allows audience members to know that this is new music.

I recommend anyone who likes this style or TLC should listen to this album. At the time of this review, I have listened to the entire album three times through.

*This was a post from my former blog. Originally posted July 6, 2017