Loony - LOONY (2024)

The Toronto neo-soul singer is ready for her full-length close-up.
On the cover of her first full-length album, a tiara-clad LOONY plays the role of misfit prom queen, her eyeshadow running slightly as if caught mid-cry. It’s a familiarly subversive archetype deployed by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and Hole in the past, but while the silken-voiced Toronto-bred neo-soul singer may not rage like those artists, she does share their fearlessness when dredging up messy emotions. LOONY’s vision of R&B is likewise fueled by a restless refusal to fit tidily into boxes, encompassing such old-school devices as breezy bossa nova reveries (“Light of My Life, You Cast a Shadow on the Wall”), smoldering psychedelic soul (“Show You Why”), bluesy slow jams (“First Thing Smokin’”), and boom-bap drums smothering in wailing arena-rock guitar solos (“Counting Thunder”). But her songs exude a raw, exposed-seam aesthetic that transcends any retro trappings, while her vocals are as mercurial as her musical choices, sliding between Feist-like delicacy and SZA-esque attitude with a natural ease.