Review: Lynn, Release and Retribution
Heavy-hitting beat rider becomes swoon-worthy R&B crooner
By Genevieve Wood, Fri., Jan. 19, 2024
If debut album Middle of Madness saw Lynn's brief flirtation with smoother stylings on an otherwise rap-forward project, Release and Retribution marks the Killeen-based artist's seamless transition from heavy-hitting beat rider to swoon-worthy crooner. Over the EP's dreamy 10 minutes, the early-twenties songwriter (who bagged opening slots for CupcakKe and Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul last year) sugarcoats stories of heartbreak and betrayal with lush swaths of R&B production. Melancholic acoustic guitar melodies anchor the mournful "Waiting," while clever couplets drive bitter ballad "Enough" ("You can go years without going left/ He still gone say it ain't right enough"). In the tradition of genre greats like Erykah Badu or Jill Scott, Lynn harnesses the power of the halfway intermission with "Place for Me Interlude," a mood-changing ode to self-reliance backed by strings reaching heavenward. Pop-forward meditation "Space and Time" leaves listeners with equal faith in the future and the up-and-coming Lynn.
