To satiate her fans’ hunger while we wait on sophomore album Joyride, Tinashe brings us the 15-track mixtape Nightride.
As the title suggests, Tinashe delivers song after song of heavy tantalizing bass, high hats, and hazy, sultry bars: “Finally feeling free for the night, I got no worries / Finally got a claim on my life, baby, c’est la vie.” The message of liberation and reclaiming life permeates throughout this mixtape. This message rings true in other notable tracks such as “Sunburn,” where the singer proclaims, “I’m seeing pink ’cause I’ve been looking at the brightside / I ain’t letting nobody cloud up all my blue sky.” Here is joy and self-assurance.
Tinashe drops “Nightride” with visually stunning video
Her liberation comes in the way of “Company,” where she enjoys the pleasure of commitment-free sex. As Tinashe says herself on Genius: “It was really empowering to say, ‘I just need a moment, f-ck and leave.’ And to be a woman saying this. I think a lot of women feel this way. And we can totally have the same feelings as men — sometimes we don’t want a relationship, it doesn’t always need to be all of this emotion involved.” It indeed feels good to hear a woman singer say this and say it so boldly.
Her vast potential as an artist is further discovered in her audacious but necessary, firm opinions. At the age of 23, Tinashe is aware of her gravity as an artist and the power she holds as a woman. It is a beautiful thing to have an artist who gives us permission to own our bodies.
Nightride is the bold, feral, sensual journey us women really need. This alluring mixtape encompasses all the very best of Tinashe: lusty, confident, downtempo, moody, sensual, and charming. Nightride lives up to its title by being the after-hour escape only one button away.
Listen to Nightride below: