Written by Evely Tan

It’s safe to say whatever doubts you had about Yuna’s star studded feature list have been quelled, because I’m setting the record straight; “Rouge” is a straight up message of being confident in your own skin that struggles a little bit when it comes to solidifying her sound, but delivers a performance that raises the par with every song.

Of course, in the grander scheme of things, self-confidence has always been a long standing issue, and in her 4th album, Yuna wanted to address the matter of being bolder, being braver, being more her. On her interview with the Billboard on “Rouge”, she went on about the inspiration of her album title,

“I’ve always felt like red is such a bold colour and I felt like, “Oh, maybe it’s not for me.” Even the colour, the lipstick colour is maybe not for me. That’s always been the person that I am. And now I feel like, you know what? I’m a little older, a little wiser now. I’m entitled to feel angry or passionate, sexy.”

The previous singles from the album previews a little bit of the direction at which Rouge is taking, starting from the well known disco-esque beat of “Blank Marquee.” Strong is the word, as Yuna reminds anyone that’s trying to take advantage of her that they’ll be nothing on their own. Clear from her previous efforts, this is a departure from her typical ethereal sound, instead taking a more hip-hop, R&B approach to her music. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering Yuna’s usually dreamy vocals are now interlaced with a much more wider palette that encompasses multiple genres all at once. 

During certain parts of the album however, the inconsistencies in between start to show; where songs like ‘Amy’ and ‘Does She’ perform beautifully with Masego and Jay Park complementing her flow, Tyler, The Creator tanked his verse in what could become a potential highlight of the album.

Here’s where it gets interesting though. As you progress to the album, you’ll eventually come across ‘Tiada Akhir,’ the only Malay song present in the album. A “Syair” type of songwriting, ‘Tiada Akhir’ speaks of loss, veering on a betrayal of feelings against a rainy backdrop that jabs the needle of sorrow, piercing directly into the heart as Yuna sings about a piece of her that she cannot regain. The song presents itself as a peak into another side of her, one that diverges onto the path of the morose, and one that I think she can hauntingly carry to such shocking beauty. Alas, glimpses are all we’re going to get, but with each peg that she’s put on her musical journey, the trajectory that she’s puts herself on spans far and wide, and “Rouge” is just the first step.

4/5